


Second Chances

by kh853



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2019-09-19 16:15:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 39,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17004936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kh853/pseuds/kh853
Summary: Hermione made a decision. The decision was far from easy, but it was the right thing to do. Harry deserved better, they all did. This was the only way to give them a second chance at life, even if it meant losing her own forever.





	1. Hard Choices

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone, I decided I'd give writing a go and see where it takes me. I've always loved fanfiction and most of the ones I read revolve around Hermione. I hope you enjoy what I've come up with so far, please let me know what you think down in the comments.
> 
> Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and plot lines belong to J.K. Rowling

_August 27th, 1998._

  
“Are you sure you want to do this? No one is going to force you into it, not after everything”, Kingsley asked her, with an expression so serious she felt as if she were in trouble at school.

  
“Yes, Kings. If I don’t do it, I’ll always regret it. I’ll always be the person who had the chance to fix everything, erase all the pain, and chose not to.” She was certain. She was terrified, but she was certain. Certain that this was the right thing to do, that this was the path she had to choose. They had lost too many people, good people that deserved better than death at the hands of those blood-purist twats.

  
“Okay, as long as you’re sure.” Hermione nearly rolled her eyes, it was like he was trying to talk her out of it, even though it had been his idea in the first place. Going back in time wasn’t going to be easy, but Hermione had experience with it and she knew what she would be dealing with when she got there. Since Voldemort and Harry were both destroyed in the Final Battle, only she and Ron had knowledge of the horcruxes and Ron would never agree to the mission. He was mourning, as they all were, but his version of mourning mainly involved staying in bed all day and having his poor mother waiting on him hand on foot, despite drowning in her own grief over Fred’s death. Hermione was grieving as well, but she couldn’t just sit around waiting for it to stop hurting so much, especially once Kingsley had come to her with the idea of eliminating the threat of Horcruxes before Harry could even become one. She pushed her grief down, not allowing it to take over, distracting herself.

  
1976 was the year her and Kingsley had decided on. If her calculations were correct, and they usually were, there were five horcruxes in existence before the deaths of James and Lily Potter in 1981: the diary, the ring, the locket, the cup and the diadem. She knew it wouldn’t be quite as easy as just going back and repeating the exact actions the Golden Trio had carried out in order to get rid of the horcruxes the first time around. Firstly, the Sword of Gryffindor wouldn’t contain any Basilisk venom until 1993 and the Basilisk itself was still very much alive in 1976, meaning she definitely would not be pulling out any of its teeth this time. No, she repressed a shudder, certainly not performing any dentistry on a live Basilisk.

  
Kingsley and Hermione had been trying to work out all the variables when it came to destroying the horcruxes for a second time. Eventually, they had both come to the conclusion that Hermione would have to seek the help of Albus Dumbledore, something that Hermione wasn’t overly eager about considering how she was still more than a little pissed off that he had sent Harry, Ron and herself on what was basically a wild goose chase to find the horcruxes. However, personal feelings aside, Hermione knew that Dumbledore was her best, and probably only, chance of mastering Fiendfyre. He was also one of the people she was planning on going back and saving; if he hadn’t been so foolish with the Gaunt ring, then he might still be alive to this day.

  
In order to truly get close to Dumbledore, she would have to be in Hogwarts. It wasn’t like she had many other choices of accommodation back in 1976 anyway. Kingsley and Hermione had tried to think of ways and means of joining the Order and starting a life in 1976 without going back to Hogwarts, but they just weren’t feasible. Without Dumbledore’s help from the outset, Hermione would never gain the trust of the Order and she would never succeed in destroying the horcruxes. However, there was one teeny, tiny problem with just waltzing into Hogwarts as a “transfer” student: she was 18, almost 19, and after the war, she certainly looked it. There was no longer any youthful innocence to the heroine’s face and she was more than a little aware that it wouldn’t be believable if she claimed to be underage. But she and Kingsley had decided that a De-Aging Potion would sort that right out. It’d be strange reverting back to her 16-year-old self, not something she was exactly ecstatic about, but it had to be done. She needed time in Hogwarts, but not so much that she would be fighting evil in an 11-year-old’s body. That would be traumatising – both mentally and physically.

  
“Let’s just get this over with, Kings. The more we go on about it, the more reasons we’ll find not to do it”, she said, trying her best to keep her voice even. She would be leaving everyone, becoming another person for them to grieve over. She was doing it for them, though, and that helped her to justify it. Mrs. Weasley would still have all seven children alive and well, Teddy Lupin wouldn’t grow up an orphan and, if things went to plan, neither would Harry.  
Kingsley nodded, “Okay, let’s just make sure you’ve got everyth-”.

  
“Stop worrying. I’ve got the letter for Dumbledore, the letter for your younger self on the off chance I need an Auror on my side, the potion, the galleons and about fifty million other things tucked away in here”, she told him, pointing at her small, beaded bag. “And most importantly, I’ve got this”, she indicated the time turner hanging around her neck.  
“Of course you’ve got everything, Hermione, it’s you”, he said with a sad smile. “You know you’ll never be able to come back though, don’t you? No matter how hard you try after Halloween 1981, it’ll be impossible. And even if you did somehow manage to completely change the rules of time travel, you wouldn’t be returning to the same 1998. You mightn’t even exist. The Hermione Granger born on the 19th of September 1979 this time around, won’t be the same Hermione Granger standing in front of me right now…if she’s even born at all. You going back means that you cease to exist in this timeline, you will never be Hermione Granger again – from now on it’s only going to be Mia Dumbledore, provided the old fool agrees of course.”

  
“I know, trust me, I’ve thought it all through. And Professor Dumbledore will agree, anything for the greater good and all that bollocks.” He grinned at her, quickly pulling her into a tight hug that nearly made her lose it. She just had to hold it together for a few more minutes – she could break down in 1976, not in 1998. The three months it had taken to plan everything had given Hermione an escape from her grief, preferring to push it from her mind completely. But it wasn’t gone, she knew it would come back with a vengeance as soon as she allowed herself to take a breath.

  
“The wizarding world will never know how indebted it is to you, Hermione Granger”, the new Minister of Magic smiled down at her.

  
“And that’s the way it should be”, she replied and with one final glance at Kingsley, she twisted the time turner just the right amount of times. Suddenly she was spinning, falling, being squeezed and stretched through time. It was a million times more intense than going back a few hours had been in her third year. When she felt as if she were about to lose consciousness from the pressure, everything stopped.

  
Hermione felt the ground below her, steadying her, and after a moment she pulled herself up into a sitting position. Looking around, she realised that she was in the exact spot she had been in 1998 – Professor McGonagall’s classroom. However, the Transfiguration room was as it was before the Final Battle had destroyed it and Kingsley was nowhere in sight. She had done it, she had really, actually, seriously done it. She had travelled 22 years into the past and there wasn’t even a scratch on her. Reaching into her beaded bag, she pulled out the De-Aging Potion and downed it quickly, grimacing at the taste. It wouldn’t do for someone to see her as the war-torn young woman she had been. Hermione Granger had suffered more than most, but Mia Dumbledore had not.

  
She peered down at her body as she felt the effects of the potion slowly taking over. She hadn’t grown since her fourth year, so she knew her height would remain unchanged. However, her jeans suddenly became a little bit tighter; she had lost so much weight on the run with Harry and Ron and she had struggled trying to put it back on in the aftermaths of the Final Battle, so she was happy to finally be back to a healthy weight. She knew that there wouldn’t be many changes, her face might seem a bit more youthful but, in reality, she hadn’t changed that much since she was 16. She looked down her shirt to see that Dolohov’s scar was still there, angry and raised and never going away. Hermione had been 16 when she got that scar, so she wasn’t surprised for it to still be there. However, she had been 18 when Bellatrix Lestrange had carved that disgusting word into her arm. She almost couldn’t bear to check if it was there or not. She didn’t know if she wanted it to have disappeared or not. Glancing down at her covered forearm, she breathed in deeply. Pulling back the material quickly, she gasped, nearly letting out a sob at the sight of her bare, undamaged forearm. There was no Mudblood scrawled across the now smooth skin, she almost couldn’t believe it. But she knew that it wouldn’t last forever. Come March 1978, the word would be back. But that was a problem for 1978 and now, in 1976, Hermione allowed herself to shed a tear for what she had gone through, for what everyone had gone through and for everyone she had left behind in 1998.

  
Her tears soon turned into body-wracking sobs, sitting on the floor of the Transfiguration classroom, as the grief she had pushed away for so long finally overcame her. The room around her grew darker as the evening sun was eventually replaced by moonlight. She was exhausted from finally allowing herself to feel everything that she had denied for so long. So many people had died. Harry was dead. She knew that, in this timeline, he hadn’t even been born yet and she knew that she had to power to make sure Harry’s life was nothing like it had been. She could save him. It was with that small comfort in mind that she finally drifted into unconsciousness on the floor of Minerva McGonagall’s classroom.


	2. Surprise Encounters

_August 28th, 1976._

Hermione slowly opened her eyes the following morning, groaning at the pain in her neck from sleeping on the floor the night before. It wasn’t until she sat up against her old professor’s desk that she realised she wasn’t alone in the room.

“Professor Dumbledore”, she gasped, quickly scrambling to her feet. She had not expected her first meeting with the Headmaster in 1976 to go quite like this. She had planned it all out, as she always did. She was going to go up to his office at some point today and explain everything to him, offering the proof he would probably need. Waking up to him staring at her, that annoying, bloody twinkle in his eye, was certainly not in line with her plan.

“Well it seems that you know who I am, but I don’t know who you are. Now, that hardly seems fair, does it?” he smiled down at her, infuriatingly. She knew that there was little truth to the friendly smile he offered her. He didn’t trust her as far as he could throw her and why would he? She was a strange, young woman who appeared out of nowhere, who he found sleeping on the floor of his colleague’s classroom and who knew exactly who he was. Even she knew she looked like a psycho.

“Well you see, sir, it’s slightly more complicated than just telling you who I am”, she figured that her best bet was sitting him down and explaining everything as soon as possible.

“Ah, I see. So, shall we take this to my office then? The entrance is on the second floor, so we won’t have to go too far up, but I have a feeling you already knew that, didn’t you?” he raised a brow at her. Her cheeks darkened slightly under his scrutiny, she was far too easy to read. The pair walked the short distance in silence, she wouldn’t call it uncomfortable but there was certainly an air of tension between the two of them. “Acid Pops”, the headmaster said calmly, waiting as the gargoyle moved aside. Hermione followed Dumbledore up the spiral staircase, the silence continuing until he had sat down behind his desk and gestured for her to take the seat across from him. “Now, what is it that you have to tell me?”

As soon as Hermione opened her mouth, the words started pouring out. She told him about the events of the past few months of her life and explained that she had come here in order to change things for the better, but she needed his help to do so. “You say you came here to change things, you don’t mean Hogwarts do you, my dear?” his tone had softened significantly since she had started speaking.

“No, sir. I mean I came to 1976… from 1998.”

Dumbledore expelled a deep breath, “Well, that certainly is a new one. And how am I to know that you are telling the truth? Not that I don’t believe you, but, it is quite unbelievable, isn’t it?” Hermione smiled, she had expected some resistance from the old man, after all he was no fool and he had no reason to trust her. She pulled the letter with Dumbledore’s name on it out of her bag, handing it to him without saying anything. Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled as he took the envelope, opening it and starting to read about Hermione Granger and what her life had been. She had written about Harry, the horcruxes, the things that she knew about the past and the future that she shouldn’t know if she were just an average 16-year-old girl. Kingsley had signed off at the end of the letter, a name Dumbledore would undoubtedly recognise. “Kingsley Shacklebolt? The Auror?” he questioned.

“Yes, sir. Auror, Order member, future Minister for Magic and also a dear friend and ally of mine”, she replied steadily. He nodded, seemingly contemplative.

“And I am assuming that if I were to mention your name to Kingsley now, he would have absolutely no idea who you are?”

“No, sir, I haven’t even been born yet, technically, and even if I had, I’m a Muggleborn. There’s no chance that Kingsley would know who I am, but I did bring a letter for him as well, should a situation arise where I am in need of an ally… other than yourself, of course”, she quickly added. Dumbledore smiled at her, chuckling quietly to himself.

“Yes, an ally indeed, Miss Granger. After all, anyone who has fought as hard as you have to take down Lord Voldemort deserves at least that. What does being your ally involve exactly? I suspect you have a few ideas already?” he raised a brow in question.

“I need you to get Aberforth to adopt me and I need you to teach me how to cast Fiendfyre”, she figured that getting straight to the point would be better for both of them.

“Well, is that all?” he chuckled, “I am sure Aberforth can be convinced to sign a paper or two, but I wouldn’t be expecting a Christmas present. About the Fiendfyre, however, I am presuming it is for the horcruxes, yes?” Hermione nodded quickly before he continued, “That will be slightly more difficult. Fiendfyre is a dangerous type of magic, very dark indeed, Miss Granger.”

“I’m aware of all this, sir, but that doesn’t change the fact that the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets is still very much alive, and the Sword of Gryffindor is not yet able to destroy horcruxes.”

Dumbledore raised his brows slightly at her comment, “Perhaps that’s a story for another time. I will help you destroy the horcruxes, Miss Granger. Anything to destroy Tom Riddle. A war is brewing and the sooner we put a stop to Lord Voldemort, the less people we will have to lose.”

“That’s exactly why I’m here, sir. I want to join the Order, as well. I know that you only accept those who have already graduated, but I was hoping you could make an exception for me. I’m actually almost 19 so the whole underage magic thing really wouldn’t be an issue and even if the trace has been put back on me, I’ll be turning 17 in a couple of weeks, regardless”, she looked up at her old headmaster hopefully. Hermione knew she could be a valuable asset to the Order in this time; she knew when some of the Death Eater attacks had happened – or would happen – in this time, and she knew that she could help prevent them. It wasn’t just the lives of those she knew that she wanted to save.

“You’re correct in saying that I don’t allow students to join the Order of the Phoenix, my dear. It’s one of the few rules that I actually do stick to. However, perhaps you and I could come to some form of compromise. It would be foolish of me not to take advantage of the knowledge you have of the future, but I will not put one of my students in the firing line of a Death Eater’s wand. Until graduation, I would suggest that you become somewhat of an informant. You may attend the meetings that occur during the school holidays, but when you are in Hogwarts, your top priority will be your studies. How does that sound?” Dumbledore smiled at her, knowing it wasn’t exactly what Hermione had had in mind.

“Well, I’ve a feeling that’s as good as I’m going to get, isn’t it?” Dumbledore chuckled, letting her know that was as much as he was willing to compromise. Hermione supposed it wasn’t the end of the world, really. Dumbledore had agreed to help her with the Fiendfyre and the horcruxes, so that was basically an Order mission in itself. “You’ve got a deal, Professor Dumbledore”, she said and offered her hand across the table.

Dumbledore shook it readily, “Anything else you’d like to request, Miss Granger?”

“Actually, yes. I’d like you to call me Mia from now on, after all I am your niece. Mia Dumbledore has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?” Dumbledore had to hold back the smile that was itching at his lips, he had a feeling he wouldn’t mind playing the role of the doting uncle too much.

“That I can do…Mia”, he said, testing it out. “Now, on to slightly more boring matters. The new school year will begin in a matter of days and I have a feeling that you’ll need to take a trip to Diagon Alley.” Hermione nodded. “What N.E.W.T.s are you planning on taking?”

Hermione grinned back at him, they had turned to a topic she was more than comfortable with. “Well, sir, back in my original sixth year I was taking Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Astronomy, Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. I never got to do my seventh year, being on the run and all, so I’d like to stick with all of those subjects.”

“Seven? Quite impressive indeed. Although, I’d expect nothing less from my niece”, he said, a twinkle in his eye. “It looks like Miss Evans and Mr. Lupin will have some competition.” Hermione’s breath caught in the back of her throat when she thought about meeting the young Remus and Harry’s mother, about meeting all of them. Of course, she had thought about it when planning on coming back to 1976, but now it all seemed much more real. “I am assuming you know of these students?” he asked, but it came out as more of a statement than a question really; he had obviously picked up on her reaction. Hermione nodded quickly, refusing to offer up any more information. Hermione was here to change the future, not to reminisce on her past.

Sensing her discomfort, Dumbledore summoned one of the elves from the kitchens. “What can Mippy be doing for you, Professor Dumbledore?” A tiny, little elf stood before the pair, a red apron tied around her. Hermione smiled at her, she seemed happy.

“Mippy, this is my niece, Mia. She will be starting Hogwarts in a few days. We were wondering if you could make us a bit of lunch? All of our catching up has made us a bit peckish.”

“It is an honour to serve another Dumbledore, Miss. Mippy is at your service whenever you need. Mippy will get the food right away.” The elf bowed to her before disapparating with a crack. Before the pair had time to resume their chat, Mippy was back with a tray filled with sandwiches and two steaming bowls of thick, vegetable soup. Hermione hadn’t realised how hungry she was until the smell drifted over to her and her stomach let out the most embarrassingly noisy rumble.

“Hungry?” the Headmaster asked with a chuckle, “Thank you, Mippy.”

“Yes, thank you very much, Mippy,” Hermione said as her cheeks reddened. Mippy beamed at the pair before disapparating again. Hermione quickly tucked into the food provided, only now realising how long it had been since her last meal. Looking over at the clock on the wall, she saw it was already nearing two o’clock in the afternoon and it had been around then that Mrs. Weasley had served lunch yesterday, before Hermione went back to Hogwarts to “clean up”, as she had told them. She wondered if everyone had noticed she was gone yet. She wondered if Kingsley had told them.

Dumbledore cleared his throat, pulling her attention back to the present. “I suggest you make a trip into Diagon Alley tomorrow, Mia. Do you have enough money with you to cover the costs?”

Hermione nodded, “Yes, sir. I made sure to bring plenty with me. I received a significant contribution from the Ministry after the Final Battle. With Harry dead, it seemed they wanted to make sure Ron and I could fit into the role of War Hero and apparently, you need galleons to do that”, she explained, rolling her eyes. She had thought it ridiculous when she discovered that her vault in Gringotts was now comparable to that of Harry’s when he first started at Hogwarts. Surely, the Ministry could have used that money to help the victims of the war rather than just throwing it at their new “heroes”. Hermione had made sure to make a significant donation to one of the many orphan charities that had been set up before travelling back. She had also completely emptied her vault and placed what she would need into her small, beaded bag. The rest she had given to Andromeda and the Weasleys, they would need it far more than she would.

Saying that, she had still brought enough back with her to last well out of Hogwarts, but she planned on getting a job after graduation, so she didn’t want to allow herself the option of becoming complacent. Having too much money and not enough to do wasn’t good for anyone; she could remember how stir-crazy Sirius had been in her fifth year. Sirius – another Marauder she would soon be meeting in this time. It would be so strange to meet the young, and undoubtedly gorgeous, Sirius Black. She had heard enough stories from Remus and Sirius about their time in Hogwarts to know that Sirius certainly never lacked female attention.

“Well, if you ever do need help financially, don’t be afraid to ask,” Dumbledore said kindly.

“I won’t, sir. I think a trip to Diagon Alley is just what I need, might help me to settle in a bit more, as well. Would you mind if I used your floo in the morning?”

“Of course, my dear. I’ll meet you here at 10 o’clock tomorrow, how does that sound? While you go shopping, I will meet my brother and try and sort out the “adoption”. Best to have you officially be a Dumbledore, lest anyone go snooping. I suggest you relax for the rest of today. You may stay in one of the empty professor’s quarters until you have been sorted at the feast.”

“Thank you, Professor Dumbledore, for everything.” Hermione was truly grateful for his help. She and Kingsley had assumed he would cooperate, but there was always the chance he would condemn her as a madwoman, however slim that chance had been.

“Anything for my niece”, Dumbledore winked.

 

_August 29th, 1976._

After Dumbledore had shown Hermione to her quarters, she had decided to spend the rest of the day in the library. What better way to relax? She seldom got the chance to read for pleasure anymore, not that reading wasn’t always a pleasure, but once the term started, she would really have to hit the books. Hermione Granger would not waste a second chance at her sixth year. She had done excellently the first-time around, but there was always room for improvement.

She was now walking towards Dumbledore’s office, excited for her trip to Diagon Alley. It would be nice to see the street as it had been before the war tore it apart. There would be no abandoned shops, no broken windows and the shoppers would actually be enjoying themselves rather than scared for their lives.

Quickly passing the gargoyle and climbing the stairs to the office, Hermione greeted the Headmaster warmly. “Good morning, Mia. I won’t keep you from your shopping, have a good day and do try to stay out of trouble”, he said with a wink.

Without needing further direction, Hermione grabbed a handful of floo powder and stood in the fireplace. “I’ll see you later, Professor.” Dumbledore smiled back at her. “Diagon Alley”, she said clearly, throwing the floo powder down. Hermione arrived in the busy street, almost falling over herself coming out of the fireplace. She never did like travelling by floo; she much preferred apparition, where she was in control of the situation. However, in this time she wouldn’t be able to legally apparate for another three weeks, not that she could’ve apparated from inside Hogwarts anyway.

Hermione took a second to take in her surroundings. Diagon Alley was exactly how she had remembered it before the war, give or take a few shops that hadn’t existed in her time. The street was alive with the hustle and bustle of back to school shopping and Hermione couldn’t help but smile. She would do what she could in order to keep Diagon Alley the way it was now.

She was so lost in her thoughts that when she turned to walk in the direction of Flourish and Blotts, she bumped right into somebody, almost losing her balance. “Oh Godric, I’m so sorry”, she said, looking up at the person she had collided with. She nearly gasped, she’d recognise those features anywhere.


	3. Becoming Mia

_August 29 th, 1976._

“Don’t be sorry, I should’ve been looking where I was going. I apologise, Miss…?” he trailed off, waiting for her to offer her name. She didn’t. Hermione almost laughed at his impeccable, pureblood manners. She was sure his older brother wouldn’t have been quite as gentlemanly if it had been him she had bumped into. Regulus Black was almost a carbon copy of what she imagined the young Sirius to look like, except Regulus was slightly taller than the Sirius from her time had been, and leaner.

She supposed it would make sense. From what she remembered Harry telling her, Regulus had been a Seeker in school, while Sirius had been a Beater, a position that required a stockier build. However, ignoring those small differences, it would be impossible to not recognise Regulus as Sirius’s brother immediately. They had the same black hair and the same grey eyes – grey eyes that were currently staring at her expectantly.

Hermione quickly pulled herself from her reverie, “Oh no, really, it’s me who should be apologising. I can be so clumsy, never looking where I’m going”, she rambled.

“Well, how about we agree to disagree?” he said with a smirk, a smirk so similar to the Sirius that Hermione had known that she nearly started to cry, thinking about how heartbroken Harry had been after Sirius had fallen through the veil. “My name is Regulus, by the way, Regulus Black.” It’s almost as if he expected her react with the way he emphasised his surname. Hermione knew that the Ancient and Noble House of Black was definitely one of the more infamous pureblood families, but Regulus certainly seemed to take pride in his family name. No wonder he and Sirius had not gotten along as teenagers – Sirius hated everything to do with his name.

“Mia”, she replied, smiling at the younger boy, trying to be friendly but not **_too_ **friendly. The last thing she needed was a future Death Eater taking an interest.

“No surname? I’m assuming you’re a Muggleborn, so?”

Hermione nearly stomped her foot in indignance. How dare he assume that just because she wasn’t listing off her family tree, she had to be a Muggleborn? At least he hadn’t said Mudblood, Hermione thought, eyes drifting to the place where her scar used to be. Hermione could definitely understand how Regulus had fallen out with his older brother. “Not that it’s any of your business, but no, I’m not a Muggleborn. Not that it would matter if I were anyway. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have shopping to do before school starts.”

“I didn’t mean to offend.” He looked embarrassed, but Hermione wasn’t convinced. “You don’t go to Hogwarts. I don’t recognise you”, Regulus stated matter-of-factly.

“I’m a transfer, it’s a long story. I’ll be joining the sixth years.” Hermione wasn’t quite sure why she was telling him all of this, she should’ve stopped talking to him after they had made their apologies.

“Ah, I’m a fifth year, but my brother will be in your year. For your sake, I hope you don’t fall in with his crowd. They’re not exactly the best sort to be associating with.”

“I think I can decide on what kind of sort I want to associate with myself, thank you very much”, she snapped. Hermione assumed he was referring to the fact that Sirius and his friends would be considered blood-traitors for hanging around with the likes of Lily Evans, with the likes of Hermione.

“Woah, okay. I’m sorry if I keep offending you, I really don’t mean to. I just meant that my brother and his friends get into a lot of trouble at school. They’re pranksters, have detention at least once a week. Lupin is the only one of them with an ounce of sense.” Regulus smiled at her sheepishly and Hermione felt a bit bad, she had just assumed that all of Regulus’ opinions boiled down to blood purity. She had to keep in mind that he did end up defecting from the Death Eaters in her timeline.

“That’s okay, I’m sorry for being so snappy. I guess I’m just a bit stressed about starting a new school.”

“Maybe I’ll see you around in Hogwarts, Mia. Who knows? You might even be a Slytherin”, he grinned at her and Hermione realised that he was actually quite beautiful when he smiled. Hermione nearly shuddered as she realised that she was checking out a fifteen-year-old. _Get a grip woman_ , she thought.

“I wouldn’t hold your breath about the Slytherin thing, but I’m sure I’ll see you around. It was nice to meet you Regulus.” She wasn’t lying, it had actually been nice to meet the man who had tried to defeat Voldemort, even if he wasn’t that man yet.

“You too, Mia.”

Hermione walked away from Regulus, heading to Flourish and Blotts, her original destination before bumping into the youngest Black. Walking into the familiar bookshop made Hermione smile; no matter how different her life became, there would always be books. She quickly gathered all of the prescribed schoolbooks for her second sixth year. Unsurprisingly, many of them were the same as she had used in her own time, Hogwarts wasn’t exactly quick to modernise.

“James Potter! Please at least give me the rest of the summer before you start harassing me again”, an unfamiliar voice could be heard from the other side of the bookshelves and Hermione had no doubt in her mind that it belonged to Lily Evans. Sirius had told Harry about how hard his father had tried to woo his mother during their time in Hogwarts. As far as Hermione knew, James had had little success until their seventh year.

“I’m telling you Evans, one of these days, you’ll be mine.” Hermione almost snorted at the confident tone of his reply. Godric loves a trier and all that. Deciding that she wasn’t ready to meet her best friend’s parents quite yet, she went and paid for all of her new books before moving on to the next shop.

Madam Malkin’s didn’t take too long, Hermione knew her measurements already and the witch working behind the desk had robes ready in her size. It was strange buying a new Hogwarts’ uniform without the Gryffindor crest and colours, but there was no guarantee that Hermione would be sorted into Gryffindor in this time. She hoped she would be; her plans to save Harry’s parents from death and Sirius from Azkaban were more than a little dependent on her becoming part of their lives.

Her next stop was Potage’s Cauldron Shop. Luckily, she didn’t run into anyone there. Hermione hadn’t been expecting to come across anyone today but, in reality, she had been stupid to assume that none of the people she knew or knew of from the future would be there today. After buying a new cauldron, Hermione made her way to the Apothecary to get all the required ingredients for N.E.W.T. Level Potions. She cast a quick feather-light charm on her bags, suddenly feeling exhausted.

Shopping was hard, Hermione decided. It just wasn’t something she particularly enjoyed. To cheer herself up a bit, Hermione strolled to Fortescue’s, planning on treating herself to a bit of ice-cream. The shop was busy, but the line had almost cleared by the time she had gotten to it. Behind the counter stood two identical teenage boys who reminded Hermione very much of Fred and George Weasley. A sudden wave of sadness came over her as she thought of Fred.

It didn’t take Hermione long to figure out that the two boys, men really, standing in front of her were Fabian and Gideon Prewett. They died in 1981, she knew, but this time around, Hermione didn’t plan on letting that happen. Hermione knew that the death of her brothers had affected Molly Weasley greatly.

By the time Hermione had reached the front of the queue, she had composed herself enough to not arouse any suspicion from the twins. “What can I get you?” one of the twins smiled at her from behind the selection of ice-cream. The other was manning the cash register.

“A scoop of chocolate and a scoop of raspberry, please”, she replied, returning the smile.

“Hear that, Gid? Chocolate and raspberry”, the twin, evidently Fabian, grimaced. “Not a fan of that combo myself, but to each their own, I suppose”, he winked, handing over her cone.

“I’m partial to a bit of chocolate and raspberry, I won’t lie to you, Fabian”, Gideon threw back. Hermione could see Fred and George even more in the pair now: light-hearted, easy-going and ready to have some fun. “That’ll be seven Sickles, please Miss. And then my brother and I will stop harassing you, we promise.” Hermione smiled back at him, the pair were instantly likeable. She quickly handed the money to Gideon and thanked the boys before exiting the shop with her ice-cream. She didn’t see the look the twins shared as she walked away.

Yes, Hermione decided, the Prewett twins certainly wouldn’t be dying in this timeline, not if she had anything to do with it. Hermione made her way back towards the floo, finishing her ice-cream, which had been absolutely delicious despite what Fabian might think.

 

_September 1 st, 1976._

Hermione woke early on the morning of the first, her stomach in knots. Today was the day: the day she’d be sorted, the day she’d see all of the Marauders together, the day she would truly become Mia Dumbledore.

Hermione had spent the last few days getting a head start on her schoolwork, even though she had already studied all of the material already, and meeting with Dumbledore. The Headmaster had confirmed that her “adoption” had gone through without a hitch and she was now a Dumbledore.

The pair had also discussed the horcruxes in more detail. Hermione assumed that they would all be in the same locations that they had been twenty years in the future, but they also considered the fact that they mightn’t be. She knew that they couldn’t do anything about Slytherin’s locket until Voldemort had taken Kreacher to the cave in 1979 to check on its defences. Her top priority while she was in school was getting a handle on Fiendfyre, but she wasn’t sure how often Dumbledore would take her to practice and she certainly wasn’t going to attempt a curse like that alone, she would never forget what happened to Crabbe.

Dumbledore had suggested that they meet monthly unless something urgent came up in the meantime. Their regular meetings could easily be attributed to a loving uncle simply checking in on his niece. Hermione would come to Dumbledore if she remembered any specific dates of attacks and he would let her know how his research on the horcruxes was going.

They had also decided that a convincing backstory was needed in order to convince the Hogwarts population, and the rest of Wizarding England, that Dumbledore had a niece that no one had ever heard of. The story they had created was simple; it was easier to avoid getting caught up in lies when one kept it simple. After Mia’s parents split when she was five, she and her mother moved to America. Aberforth was a private enough man that nobody would know if he had had a daughter in 1959 or not. Dumbledore had pulled some strings and gotten Ilvermorny to create a student file for Mia Dumbledore. It seemed that the Headmaster of Ilvermorny owed Dumbledore a favour or two. Mia’s mother was English, hence the lack of an American accent, and a half-blood, meaning that nobody would question not recognising her name. When her mother died over the summer, Mia moved back to England to live with her father and uncle. Hermione thought it was a solid backstory and she knew she could improvise somewhat if people started asking more questions.

As she sat in her bed, mulling over the past few days, Hermione knew that everything would go just fine. She would be the subject of teenage gossip for about a day and then the population of Hogwarts would collectively move on to the next juicy titbit.

She strolled down to the kitchens, grabbing some breakfast from the elves before heading up to the library. It was barely nine in the morning, she could get a decent day’s work in before the rest of the student body arrived this evening. She was better off distracting herself, nothing good ever came from Hermione Granger overthinking.

The day passed quickly, and it soon came time for Hermione to don her plain robes and make her way down to the small waiting room where the First Years gathered before the Sorting Ceremony. She thought it a bit embarrassing that she had to be sorted with the First Years, but Dumbledore insisted that it was an integral part of starting at Hogwarts, even if it was for the second time. A few of the First Years were giving her funny looks. She couldn’t really blame them.

Hermione heard the noise coming from the Great Hall growing louder and louder, her stomach starting to fill with butterflies. Professor McGonagall entered the small room, her eyes scanning the First Years and eventually landing on her. McGonagall gave her an appraising look and Hermione knew that Dumbledore had told her that his “niece” would be joining them in the school. McGonagall gave a quick speech, identical to the one that Hermione had received in 1991, 15 years in the future.

The group slowly began to shuffle into the Great Hall led by Professor McGonagall. Hermione stuck to the back of the group, in no hurry to face the rest of the students. She knew she wouldn’t be waiting too long for her sorting, only students with surnames beginning with A, B or C would come before her.

There was about five or six First Years sorted before it came time for Hermione to go up to the stool. She knew what was coming when Professor McGonagall announced “Mia Dumbledore” to the Great Hall. Whispers immediately broke out.

“Dumbledore? As in Professor Dumbledore?”

“How many other Dumbledores have you heard of, idiot?”

“She can’t be his daughter, can she?”

“No, definitely not. I think he bats for the other team, if you know what I mean?”

Hermione did her best to ignore the whispers as she walked up to the stool and McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on her head. Thankfully, it didn’t fall halfway down her face as it had in 1991. Hermione didn’t think she could take any more embarrassment.

Suddenly the Sorting Hat was speaking to her, inside her head. “Well, well, well, what do we have here? A _time traveller_?”


	4. Alohomora

_September 1 st, 1976._

_Suddenly the Sorting Hat was speaking to her, inside her head. “Well, well, well, what do we have here? A time traveller_?”

Shit. Hermione was sure her reaction had shown clearly on her face, her jaw falling slack. She was sure people would be wondering what on earth the Sorting Hat had said to her. Pulling herself together quickly, Hermione replied, “Yes, you originally sorted me in 1991.”

“Ahhh…yes, I see it now. A Gryffindor. Very interesting…”

“I would appreciate if you could put me back in Gryffindor”, Hermione told the Hat, remembering how Harry had told her and Ron how he had begged not to be put in Slytherin.

“You certainly are brave enough to be a Gryffindor…but, there’s brains there too. Ravenclaw would also be a suitable House, maybe even more suitable”, the Hat was certainly taking its time with its decision and Hermione knew the rest of the Great Hall would be growing impatient.

“I’ll go anywhere, just not Slytherin”, she replied.

“Not Slytherin, eh? You could realise your potential in Slytherin, Miss Granger. You certainly have cunning plans for this time, don’t you?” Hermione had started to sweat. She wasn’t sure she could handle being put in Slytherin, knowingly sharing a Common Room with Death Eaters that she had fought against. “Hmmmm…”

“Please not Slytherin.”

“Better be…GRYFFINDOR!” the Sorting Hat roared, and Hermione let out the breath she had been holding. She was sure that her Sorting had taken far longer than any of the other students. Great, she thought, just one more reason for people to talk about her.

Standing as gracefully as she could from the stool that was slightly too small for anyone over the age of 11, Hermione made her way down to the Gryffindor table. On the way, she allowed her eyes to scan the rest of the Great Hall, eventually landing on the Slytherin table, where she very easily could have ended up that evening. Her eyes locked with Regulus’. The younger boy quirked an eyebrow at her as if to say, “A Dumbledore, really?”, and she quickly broke eye contact, hurrying towards the table.

She was about to sit down beside the only First Year who had been sorted into Gryffindor at that point, until she heard someone shout “Mia!” from further down the table. Hermione looked up to see a familiar shock of red hair, immediately recognising the Prewett twins from the ice-cream shop. She walked towards them and accepted the space they had made for her with their friends.

“You’re the guys from Fortescue’s, right?”, she asked, acting as if she didn’t know exactly who they were.

“Yeah, I’m Fabian and that’s my brother, Gideon”, the twin sitting closest to her explained. “We had no idea you were a Hogwart’s student the other day.” Hermione noted that Fabian had a scar in his right eyebrow whereas Gideon didn't.

“Well, I suppose I wasn’t. Not until today anyway”, she smiled back at Fabian. “I just transferred into Sixth Year.” One of the boys sitting beside Gideon coughed, attempting to catch Fabian’s attention.

“Ah yes, how very rude of me”, Fabian winked at the boy. “This is Benjy Fenwick.” Dead, Hermione thought. “Sitting on the other side of Gideon is Garrick Corner, but we just call him Garry.” Hermione didn’t think she had ever heard of a Garrick Corner among the casualties of the First Wizarding War. He was possibly the future father of Michael Corner, a Ravenclaw from her year, but she wouldn’t be sure of that until 1980. “Beside Garry is Frank Longbottom.” Tortured into insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange. Hermione could only imagine what would have become of her if she had been left with Bellatrix much longer. “And this here is Marlene McKinnon, we’re all Seventh Years.” Dead. Dead. Dead. Hermione struggled to take in her next breath as she realised that four out of the six people sitting with her would be dead, and one of them confined to the Janus Thickey Ward for the rest of his life, within the next five years. Unless she saved them. Unless Hermione succeeded in what she came here to do. It was a lot to take in, but it only made her more determined to succeed.

“It’s nice to meet you all. I was really nervous about being Sorted. I’m glad I ended up in Gryffindor, though”, she smiled at them all. They may not be in her own year, but it was nice to feel like she wasn’t entirely alone in Hogwarts.

“Of course you are!” and “Best house there is!” came from each of the twins, making Hermione chuckle. The food suddenly appeared on the table meaning the Sorting had finally finished. Everyone began to dig in and Hermione was pleased to see that Ron’s uncles had better table manners than their nephew.

“So, Mia…I don’t mean to pry, but are you actually related to Dumbledore?”, Marlene asked her, and Hermione knew that she did mean to pry. From what she had heard of Marlene in the future, Hermione knew she was loyal to the Order, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t a big gossip at the same time.

“He’s my uncle. My Mum died over the summer and I came back to England to live with him and my father.” Hermione decided that her best bet was getting the story out there as soon as possible, Marlene would make sure to spread it nice and quickly.

“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that, Mia.” Marlene looked suitably embarrassed after discovering the reason behind Hermione’s sudden arrival. A chorus of condolences rang from the four boys as well. Hermione merely smiled in return, finishing up her food before standing from the table.

“I think I might head up to the Common Room now, I’m absolutely exhausted”, she told the group of Seventh Years.

Fabian immediately stood up, “I can bring you, after all you’ll need help finding it.”

“I’ve actually been exploring the castle for the past few days, so I shouldn’t have any trouble finding it. Anyway, I’m sure the Head Boy has more important things to be doing with his time”, she smiled back at him. He blushed.

“How did you-?”

“The badge, Fabian. Bit of a giveaway. Anyway, I might see you in the Common Room later. I’ll be the one with a book”, she grinned, touching his arm lightly before walking out of the Great Hall.

“Bit of a crush, Fabes?”, Marlene smirked.

“Shut up, McKinnon.”

Hermione realised her mistake as she reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. She had completely forgotten to ask Fabian for the password. Well, it looked like she was waiting for someone else to arrive and only Godric knew how long that would be.

Luckily enough, she didn’t have to wait that long. Two taller figures being trailed by around ten smaller ones approached the portrait. As they got closer, Hermione realised that it was none other than Remus Lupin and Lily Evans, the Sixth Year Prefects, bringing the First Years to Gryffindor Tower. Her heart started beating a little faster as they noticed her presence, figuring out quickly what she was doing standing outside the portrait.

“Forget to ask for the password?”, Lily smiled at her kindly.

“That’s what I get for trying to act as if I didn’t need any help on my first day”, she smiled back a bit sheepishly.

“Don’t worry, happens to the best of us”, Remus told her. Hermione doubted that very much but was grateful for his kindness. “Alohomora”, he said to the portrait. Of course that was the stupid, bloody password. Might as well have been “Open Sesame”. Hermione barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes. After all the first years had filed through the portrait hole and Lily and Remus had shown them the stairs to their dorms, the pair turned to Hermione.

“Thank you for saving me”, she smiled at them. “I’m Mia, by the way. I’ll be joining the Sixth Years.”

“I’m Lily and this is Remus, we’re in Sixth Year too”, Lily said excitedly. Lily was exactly as Hermione had imagined her to be: beautiful, bubbly and full of life. It was true what everyone said, Harry really did have her eyes. “That means you and I will be sharing a dorm. Oh wait until you meet Mary and Alice! They’ll be so excited to have another girl in the dorm and we’ll finally have even numbers against Remus and his friends. Trust me when I say Remus is the best of a bad lot.” Hermione laughed, Lily’s words echoed Regulus’ in Diagon Alley. Apparently, it wasn’t just Slytherins who weren’t fans of the Marauders.

Remus smirked. Hermione was a bit taken aback; the Remus of her time was not a smirker. She supposed that thinking your best friend had aided in the murder of your other best friend for twelve years changed a person. But that wouldn’t happen this time around, she’d make sure of it.

“Ah Evans, we’re not that bad. You know you love us really." None other than Sirius Black strolled up to the trio, clapping Remus on the shoulder, James and Peter following closely. Lily rolled her eyes while James and Sirius shared a look. “Who do we have here? The infamous Mia Dumbledore?”, Sirius quirked a brow.

“I’m infamous?”, Hermione questioned. It was nice to see that some things would never change and Sirius Black being a cheeky bastard was definitely one of them. If it were possible, he was even more handsome now than he had been in her time. She wondered if he would’ve aged differently if he had never gone to Azkaban, a few less worry lines here and a few less scars there. The Sirius from her time had been distinguished, a mysterious, older man that Hermione and Ginny had gushed over in private. But the Sirius from this time, well, he was something else. He radiated youth, had an air about him that screamed “I really don’t give a fuck”. Hermione could understand how all the girls in Hogwarts had been pining after him in this time. She nearly slapped herself; apparently there was something about Black brothers that made her forget that she was 19 years of age and that it was entirely inappropriate for her to be admiring 15 and 16-year-olds. A small voice in the back of her mind whispered to her that she was 16 too in this time.

It seemed that Sirius had noticed her appraisal as a wide grin spread across his face. “Well, it’s not every day that someone who isn’t a firstie is sorted. And it’s certainly not every day that said person is a Dumbledore.”

“You also had the longest hat stall I’ve ever seen, Dumbledore. Where did the Hat want to put you? Slytherin?”, James added jokingly. Hermione blushed, and James and Sirius started laughing uproariously.

“Well, you’re lucky you didn’t end up a snake. They’re not exactly our best friends”, Sirius whispered conspiratorially.

“The Hat was also thinking about Ravenclaw, but I’m happy I ended up here”, she explained further. “Anyway, it’s not very fair that you know who I am, while I have no idea who you are.”

“Sirius Black at your service, m’lady.”  Hermione rolled her eyes at Sirius’ antics as he bowed low and reached for her hand, placing a tender kiss to the back of it. Oh yes, she could certainly see how Sirius Black was so successful with the female population of Hogwarts.

“And I’m James Potter, but I’m afraid I’m already spoken for”, James said, reaching an arm around Lily’s shoulder, which she immediately removed.

“You most certainly are not!”, Lily insisted, looking equal parts furious and embarrassed. “And if you touch me again, I’ll have your arse in detention for a week, Potter.”

“Oh you can have my arse where and whenever you want, Evans”, James winked before quickly jumping out of the way of the hand that had been swinging for the back of his head. “This here is Peter Pettigrew.” Hermione resisted the urge to glare at the smallest member of the group. “And that completes our merry band of Marauders”, James grinned at his three best friends as they all shared a look.

“Marauders?”, Hermione asked innocently, pretending to be as clueless as Mia Dumbledore should be.

“Don’t ask, Mia. It’s basically just their fancy word for troublemakers”, Lily told her, rolling her eyes.

“You hear that, Prongs? Troublemakers, she calls us. You wound me, Evans”, Sirius said, clutching his chest as if he were in pain.

“Don’t worry, Padfoot. It’s just Evans’ way of hiding her love for me. It’s not healthy to keep all of those feelings pent up inside”, James said.

“On that note, I think I’ll be taking my friends up to our dorm before they can do anything else to embarrass us in front of the new girl. It was nice to meet you, Mia. I’ll see you in the morning, Lily.” Remus, ever the mediator, grabbed James and Sirius by the arms and dragged them with him up the stairs to the boys’ dormitories. Peter scurried behind his friends, always a follower.

"Ugh Moony, always trying to impress the ladies. Give the rest of us a chance, mate!" Sirius's voice could be heard from the stairs.

“What was that?”, Hermione asked, holding back laughter. Lily looked at her before the pair burst into giggles.

“That, Mia, was what you’re going to be dealing with for the next two years. Those boys are something else”, the redhead smiled, and Hermione could tell she was more fond of them than she let on.

“They certainly are”, she agreed.


	5. I Told You So

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates might be a little sporadic, I'm in the middle of my Christmas exams in college at the moment, but I'm still trying to keep writing. I'd love to hear any feedback you guys have for me. The story is still very much open-ended. Who do you want Hermione to end up with?

_September 2 nd, 1976._

Hermione was content as she made her way down to breakfast the following morning. She had been introduced to her other dormmates, Mary and Alice, and she immediately warmed to them. Mary was lovely but also tough, Hermione could tell she didn’t take shit from anybody. She was also a Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. Alice was somewhat fairylike in appearance: thin with a pixie haircut, but no less able to handle herself. After all, she and Frank would both become Aurors after Hogwarts. Hermione had quickly learned that Frank and Alice were already “going steady” and were madly in love with each other.

Everyone had been exhausted after the first day, so the girls didn’t stay up too long getting to know each other, however, Hermione had clicked instantly with them, something she couldn’t say for her roommates from her own time. Lavender and Parvati were lovely girls, but they had never had anything in common with Hermione. Hermione frowned a bit as she thought of Lavender, even if they had never been close, she had been horrified to learn of the other girl’s death in the Final Battle.

“Knut for your thoughts?”, a voice asked, pulling her out of her moment of grief. She looked up to see Regulus standing across from her in the Entrance Hall, on his way into breakfast.

“Regulus, how are you?”, she asked, avoiding his question. “I didn’t think you were allowed to talk to me now, me being a Gryffindor and all”, she said, pointing to her red and gold tie.

Regulus smirked, “For you, Dumbledore, I think I can make an exception. Anyway, everyone’s dying to find out more about the mysterious new girl.” The pair continued to walk towards the Great Hall together.

“Ahh, I see how it is. You just want to find out more about me, so you can add to the rumour mill”, she teased.

“No, I want to find out more about you because you interest me, Dumbledore. I’ll see you around”, Regulus said casually as they entered the Great Hall, turning towards the Slytherin table. Hermione repressed a blush, she didn’t know if it was a good or a bad thing that Regulus Black had taken an interest in her, but she was sure she would find out.

No distractions Hermione, she thought as she made her way to the Gryffindor table. She was here to destroy a Dark Wizard, not to flirt with teenage boys who had too much confidence.

Hermione sat down beside Lily and smiled at her fellow Sixth Years. “Why were you talking to my brother?”, Sirius asked suspiciously, eyeing her up and down. It seemed that Sirius had already cut ties with The Most Ancient and Noble House of Black, and his trust in his brother didn't seem to stretch very far.

“Regulus is your brother?”, she asked, feigning innocence. She began to butter some toast in order to seem relaxed about the whole matter. After Sirius nodded, she continued, “Oh, well I quite literally bumped into him when I was in Diagon Alley the other day. He was very nice about it. He saw me in the Entrance Hall on the way into breakfast and we chatted. That’s all. No scandal to report, I’m afraid.”

“Don’t make a habit of talking to him, he hangs around with a bad sort”, Sirius warned.

“Funny you say that, that’s exactly what he said about you”, Hermione goaded him, purposefully trying to gauge his reaction. The tips of his ears turned pink and his mouth set in a hard line, he definitely wasn’t happy.

Before any more could be said on the matter, Professor McGonagall came around with the Sixth Year’s timetables. She looked at Hermione appraisingly, as she had done the night before. “Well, Miss Dumbledore, seven N.E.W.T.s certainly is ambitious, but I suppose I’d expect nothing less from a niece of the Headmaster’s”, McGonagall gave her a kind smile before handing her the timetable. Today was Thursday, so that meant Hermione would have Double Potions in the morning, with Arithmancy, D.A.D.A. and Charms in the afternoon. It wasn’t too bad a timetable, she thought. Wednesday’s would be a long day with Astronomy class taking place at 10pm, but other than that, she was happy.

“You’re doing seven, Mia? I’d rather spend an evening with Moaning Myrtle than do seven N.E.W.T.s. Seems you’re just as crazy as Evans and Remus”, James said to her.

“What subjects are you doing, James?”, Hermione asked. She knew that both he and Sirius had planned on becoming Aurors after school before the war got in the way. The Sirius she had known in her time had tried to tell Harry everything he could about his parents.

“Well, I have to take five to get into Auror training after school. You have to do D.A.D.A., Charms, Transfiguration and Potions, which is a bit of a bollocks considering I’m not very good at it.” Hermione chuckled, being reminded of Harry who certainly had not inherited his skills in Potions from his mother. “And then I chose Herbology because it seemed like the one I’m least likely to fail”, he joked.

“I’m doing the same, except I’m taking Astronomy instead of Herbology. Prongs and I will be heading up the Auror Department in no time, just you watch”, Sirius added.

Lily rolled her eyes again, something she seemed to do a lot around the boys. “Bit of a cop out taking Astronomy, Sirius. You’re literally named after a star, you could name any star in the sky if you wanted”, she said, seemingly frustrated.

“That’s exactly why I’m taking it, Evans. At least there’s one useful thing my family taught me.”

It turned out that Lily and Remus were taking all of the same subjects as Hermione was except instead of Astronomy, Lily had opted for Herbology and Remus had opted for Divination. Peter had picked all of the same subjects as James, which was no surprise to Hermione, she doubted the little rat ever did anything for himself. Mary and Alice were also taking the subjects required to become Aurors, but Alice was taking Divination as her fifth, whereas Mary had chosen Herbology as she wanted to give herself the option to become a Healer as well. It seemed that Hermione and Sirius were the only two taking Astronomy, which would certainly be interesting as Sirius still seemed a bit suspicious of her after her little chat with Regulus.

All eight of them were taking Potions, so after they finished eating, they started to make their way down to the Dungeons. On the way down, Remus pulled Hermione back a little, making sure he was out of earshot of everyone else. “Don’t take the way Sirius was acting to heart, the situation between him and his brother is…complicated, to say that least”, he told her.

“Thanks, Remus, I appreciate it. I hope they can sort it out between themselves, family is so important.” Hermione knew that Sirius didn’t even consider the Blacks his family anymore, but she was sure there had to be a part of Sirius that still loved his little brother.

“I hope so too, Mia. He hasn’t had it easy”, Remus smiled sadly, and the pair followed the others down the stairs.

Potions with Slughorn was exactly how she remembered it: painful. The man had latched onto her the minute she walked in the door, going on and on about how wonderful it was to have a Dumbledore in his class. Before the class had even ended, Hermione had received a standing invitation to the Slug Club. Great. Just great.

The Gryffindors shared Potions with the Slytherins and it was there that Hermione had her first encounter with the young Severus Snape. It was slightly alarming to see her old Potion’s Professor very much alive again, even if it wasn’t exactly a joyous reunion.

Hermione had partnered up with Lily, much to James and Snape’s disappointment. Apparently, Snape and Lily had been partners up until the end of last year, but they were now no longer on speaking terms because Snape had called Lily a Mudblood. No matter how many times he apologised to the redhead, she refused to forgive him. Hermione thought that was perfectly fair; if Ron or Harry had ever called her that word, she would’ve never forgiven them.

Hermione went to the store room to grab an ingredient that the two girls had forgotten, and nearly collided with Snape as he exited the little room.

“Watch where you’re going, Gryffindor”, he snapped, glaring at her.

Hermione decided this could only go one of two ways: she could reply with equal disdain or she could be the bigger person. At 19 years of age, she thought it would be a little sad to stoop to a 16-year-old’s level. “Oh, I’m sorry. The name’s Mia by the way, not Gryffindor. What’s yours?”

“I know who you are, Dumbledore, but the fact of the matter is that I simply do not care. Now, move out of my way.” Well, that didn’t work too well. Snape would be a work in progress for the time being, she decided.

 

_September 8 th, 1976._

Hermione’s first week of school as Mia Dumbledore had been going well. She had fallen in with her fellow Gryffindors quickly and she and Regulus would send each other secret smiles when passing each other on the corridors. Hermione wasn’t sure how she felt about that, but she also wasn’t allowing herself to think about it.

Fabian had started walking her to a few of her classes and she definitely didn’t know what to make of that. He was sweet, but Hermione hadn’t even considered romantic relationships when she was planning her trip into the past. It just hadn’t been on her radar and she wasn’t really sure if she was ready for anything serious in this time. It would feel like she was completely letting her past go if she did get involved with someone here. She and Ron had shared a passionate kiss during the Final Battle, but after Harry had died, they were all too distraught to even think about something as trivial as a kiss.

Then there was Sirius. Sirius, who constantly flirted with anything on two legs, who always slung an arm around her shoulder whenever he bumped into her, who acted as if none of it was a big deal. She supposed she just wasn’t used to having a friend like him; she and the boys had never been touchy-feely, and she would have to adapt to the likes of Sirius. In fairness, James and Remus were also quite affectionate people, even if they didn’t do it as often as Sirius. Maybe she was just overthinking everything.

“Hey kitten.” Hermione looked up from the book she had been reading in the Common Room to see Sirius. She rolled her eyes. He knew exactly how much the nickname annoyed her, which was why he used it all the time. “Ready for Astronomy?”, he smirked at her annoyance.

Hermione looked at her watch and realised it was already quarter to 10. If Sirius hadn’t come to collect her, she would’ve completely forgotten about their 10pm Astronomy class. She nodded and scrambled up out of the chair, gathering her bag and cloak. “Let’s go”, she smiled.

Despite the late hour, Hermione found she actually enjoyed the class. She was surprised at Sirius’ knowledge of the stars, never having seen that side to him in her time. He pointed out various constellations to her and explained complicated theories. It was nice to see him be passionate about something for once; he was normally so nonchalant about everything that this new side to him was refreshing.

The pair walked back to the Common Room, laughing about the prank the boys had pulled on Slughorn a few days previously. Love potions in the staffroom were never a good idea. As they stepped through the portrait hole, Sirius turned to her with a serious expression on his face. “I just wanted to make sure you were settling in alright. I wasn’t exactly as welcoming as I could have been and I’m sorry about that. The whole Regulus thing is just a sore spot.”

Hermione didn’t know what to say. It was like she was getting a glimpse of the Sirius from her time, the man who cared so greatly for his godson, in this younger version. Tears sprung to her eyes, but she quickly brushed them away, feeling silly. Sirius was still the same person in this time, he just had a little bit of growing up to do before he resembled the Sirius she had known. “Yes, I’m doing perfectly fine, even if it doesn’t look like it right now”, she laughed. Sirius smiled back at her, brushing a stray tear from her cheek. Her breath caught; the Sirius she had known had never done that.

“Glad to hear it, Mia”, he said softly.

“Anyway, I better be off to bed. It’s pretty late. I’ll see you in the morning, Sirius.” Hermione practically ran up the stairs to her dorm, closing the door behind her softly.

Lily was sitting in her bed reading a Muggle novel. She looked up as Hermione came into the room and saw the redness of her cheeks. “Where have you been?”, she grinned.

“Oh, just back from Astronomy class with Sirius, it was actually pretty interesting”, she said quickly.

“It’s not a good idea, Mia”, she said seriously. At Hermione’s raised brow she continued, “Getting involved with Sirius. It’s not a good idea. He doesn’t do commitment. He’ll get what he wants and then he’ll move on to the next girl. It’s disgusting and you deserve better than that.”

“Lily, don’t be stupid. I’m not interested in Sirius, honestly. He just reminds me of someone I used to know, I promise.” It was Lily’s turn to raise a brow, but she didn’t say anything more and the two girls went to bed.

The next morning Lily and Hermione made their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast, passing Sirius and Marlene McKinnon on the way. Sirius had Marlene up against the wall, kissing her as if his survival depended on it. Neither of the two noticed the girls as they walked past. Lily turned and gave Hermione a knowing look.

“I told you so.”


	6. Lighting a Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I really appreciate all the comments and Kudos that I've gotten so far. Please keep coming with the feedback, it's what encourages me to write more of the story. Anyway, I really hope you like this chapter and I hope it explains things a bit more from a new perspective.

_September 8 th, 1976._

After Mia had gone up to her dorm, Sirius went straight back out of the portrait hole and made his way down towards the Whomping Willow. He hated having Astronomy this late on a Wednesday, but it was particularly annoying when it coincided with the full moon. He didn’t like leaving Prongs and Wormtail alone with Moony. It wasn’t fair on any of them. Easing past the frozen branches, he made his way through the tunnel to the Shrieking Shack. Quickly transforming into his Animagus form, he barrelled through the door, slamming it behind him, to find a very agitated Moony and a defensive Prongs. Wormtail was obviously hiding in a corner somewhere. Moony seemed to relax at Padfoot’s arrival, the absence of one of his pack having put him on edge at the beginning of the night. Prongs visibly relaxed as well, and Wormtail scurried out from his hiding place. Padfoot had arrived.

The four Marauders chased each other around the room, rolling around and play fighting until dawn finally started to rear its head. Remus passed out as his body returned to human form and the three Animagi switched back as well. Sirius was too worked up to even think about sleeping and James was much the same. The pair would be dead on their legs for the rest of the day, but that was a problem for later. Looking over to the fourth Marauder, Sirius saw that Wormtail had also curled up and fallen asleep, attempting to grab a few hours before breakfast.

“James?”, Sirius said, after realising that the pair were left to their own devices.

“Yeah, Padfoot?”

“I wanted to kiss Mia tonight.” Sirius looked over as James’ eyes widened in surprise. They had all grown to see the new girl as a friend in the past week, but he didn’t realise any of his mates saw her as more than that.

“Shit. You can’t, Sirius. It’s not a good idea.”

“What do you mean it’s not a good idea, Prongs? What do you think I’m going to do to her?”, Sirius asked defensively.

“You know what you’ll do to her, mate. You’ll do what you always do. No offence, but you think you like girls, then you shag them and get bored. Then you repeat the cycle. You can’t do that to Mia…she’s delicate.”

“Delicate my arse, Prongs, have you seen her in DADA?”

“Yeah, she can throw a hex better than most, that’s fair. But did you see her last Sunday when I snuck up on her? Grabbed her from behind and she bloody screamed in my ear and started fighting me off as if I were a real attacker. As if she’d be attacked in Hogwarts? Her reaction wasn’t normal, Padfoot. She keeps her wand in her shirt sleeve, had it in her hand before I could even tell her it was me. Could’ve hexed my balls off if I hadn’t have let go when I did. Something happened to her, Pads, and I don’t know what it is, but don’t mess with her, she doesn't deserve it. She’s not just another girl for you to have your fun with”, James told him.

Sirius had never seen his best mate act like this before. He had seen James grab Mia last weekend, but he hadn’t really been paying any attention to it. That was just James. He was right though, if he was going to be friends with Mia, he couldn’t be an arse, no matter how much he wanted her.

“What do I do, Prongs?”

“You get over her.”

A couple hours later, as the boys made their way back up to Gryffindor Tower, Sirius saw Marlene McKinnon on her way to breakfast. Marlene and Sirius had had an on and off fling since Third Year. He told his friends he’d see them later and grabbed Marlene’s arm, pulling her close to him. James rolled his eyes and kept walking, the other two Marauders looking at him with confusion.

“I’ve missed you, Marley”, he lied easily. He could really be a prick when he wanted to be, but he’d get over Mia come hell or high water. James was right, she wasn’t just another girl.

 

_September 11 th, 1976._

Hermione had been a bit off with Sirius since she had seen him with Marlene, but she didn’t think he had noticed as he was being a bit off with her as well. They were still talking to each other, but he had stopped almost all physical contact between them, almost flinching when her hand brushed his at breakfast one morning. What the hell was wrong with him? It wasn’t her who had been snogging the face off someone in the corridor.

She didn’t miss the death glares that he shot at Fabian, however, whenever the Head Boy came to walk her to class. It was mostly for that reason that Hermione didn’t stop Fabian from escorting her, it was no harm for Sirius to see that he wasn’t the only one with options. Hermione didn’t even know why she felt like she had to show Sirius that other boys wanted her, but she just did. It wasn’t that she didn’t fancy Fabian, he was lovely, but she just wasn’t looking for anything serious right now. And she definitely wasn’t looking for anything Sirius right now, no matter how much her heart sped up when he looked into her eyes. Lily would kill her if she found out.

It didn’t help that the other Black brother was also on her mind. It was exciting, like a secret affair that wasn’t even an affair. All they did was smile at each other in passing and occasionally stop to chat if no one else was around. But it still made Hermione smile just thinking about it.

She needed to get a grip; she wasn’t Mia Dumbledore, no matter how simple her life could be if she just pretended that she wasn’t Hermione Granger. But she was Hermione Granger, and Hermione Granger was on a mission. She was here to destroy Voldemort, and she certainly wasn’t here to have her heart broken by Sirius fucking Black.

 

_September 18 th, 1976._

Hermione gasped, sweat trickling down her forehead. Her arms began to shake as her muscles ached from the strain of the spell.

Fiendfyre.

Dumbledore had taken her to an abandoned cave in the mountains of Scotland, not far from Hogwarts, but far enough away that nobody but themselves would be in danger. Dumbledore had proven to be quite adept with Fiendfyre himself, which was surprising as the spell was considered to be _Dark_. Hermione didn’t ask any questions. She was just grateful that he had enough control over the magic to protect both himself and her should she lose control of the flames.

It was a Saturday evening, so no one would notice her absence from the Common Room. Even if they did, it could be easily explained away. Just an evening with her uncle, nothing suspicious about that. Dumbledore had made it very clear that this “horcrux business”, as he liked to call it, would not interfere with her education, and their meetings would always take place on either Friday or Saturday nights.

“Yes, you’re doing excellently, my dear. Now, try and extinguish the flames”, Dumbledore prompted encouragingly. Casting the spell and releasing the flames was the easy part. Hermione had already expended much of her energy just trying to control the roaring lion of fire that flew around the cave, but extinguishing the Fiendfyre was another thing altogether.

Hermione swished her wand in an attempt to cut off the flow of fire from her wand, but nothing happened. If anything, the flames grew wilder under her ministrations. Panic now filled her mind. What if she couldn’t stop it? What if Dumbledore couldn’t? They would die. What if they survived but Hermione never learned to master the curse? Would she ever succeed in destroying Voldemort? What if she didn’t? Was coming back to 1976 pointless? Did she give up her old life for nothing?

Hermione gasped as the pressure coming from her wand suddenly ceased. It took her a second to realise that Dumbledore had ended her curse with his own wand. She looked at the Headmaster gratefully, she didn’t know what she would’ve done without his help.

“I’m sorry, Professor. I couldn’t stop it and then I lost my head”, she apologised, feeling a little embarrassed.

“It’s alright, Hermione”, Dumbledore had been careful to only use her real name in private. “Dark Magic has a mind of its own and it takes great practice to overcome the effect it has on us. Dark Wizards embrace it, but those of us who seek the Light, we must struggle against its power. It is a constant battle, and one you are only beginning. You did well this evening, try not to be too harsh on yourself”, he said knowingly.

Hermione nodded, feeling better. It was a start. She knew she would get to the point where she could control Fiendfyre alone, no matter how long it took.

“Now, I think that’s enough for tonight, don’t you?”, Dumbledore said to her. Hermione agreed, she was exhausted. She didn’t realise how much Dark Magic could take it out of you.

The pair made the trip back to Hogwarts in companionable silence, apparating from the mouth of the cave to the school’s gates. They must have been in the cave for longer than Hermione had realised, it was pitch black outside. It was a quiet night, still warm enough outside to not need a coat, but Hermione knew that that would soon change. Looking up at the night’s sky, Hermione saw the stars and constellations that Sirius had pointed out to her in the previous week’s Astronomy class. She smiled. He had started to warm up to her again; it was slow progress, but progress nonetheless.

As they reached the school, entering the familiar warmth, they began to climb the staircase. Dumbledore turned to her as they arrived on his floor.

“You did well tonight, Hermione. I’m proud of you.”

“Thank you, sir, but I know I could’ve done it if I hadn’t let it get the better of me”, she said thoughtfully.

“The fact that you are attempting what you are, even looking back at what you’ve done to get here and attempt it in the first place, is something to be proud of. Not many people have your bravery, Hermione. Don’t ever be disappointed in imperfection, because it is human, and to be human, is to be imperfect”, he smiled fondly at the girl. He would never be able to fully understand how one person could be so selfless, giving up their whole lives for other people.

“Thank you, Professor. Good night”, Hermione said, turning to continue up the stairs.

“Yes, good night. And Miss Granger?”, Dumbledore called after her. She turned around to face him.

“Yes?”, she asked.

“Happy Birthday”, he smiled. Hermione’s eyes flicked to her watch, seeing that it was indeed just past midnight. It was her birthday. Her 19th birthday, or her 17th birthday in this time.

“Thank you, sir”, she said, smiling back at him before walking up the stairs towards the Fat Lady.


	7. A Birthday to Remember

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone had a great Christmas. I haven't written much over the last week because of the holidays, but this chapter is slightly longer to make up for it. Please leave reviews, they help me know I'm on the right track and that you're enjoying the story. Enjoy the chapter!

_September 19 th, 1976._

Hermione sat at the Gryffindor table having a late breakfast with her friends. It was nice having her birthday on a Sunday, she could just relax and enjoy it. She hadn’t mentioned to any of her fellow Gryffindors that it was her birthday, she didn’t like to make a fuss and she knew her friends, especially James, would. James loved birthdays, willing to celebrate anything at the drop of a hat. It made Hermione smile thinking about the birthday parties that Harry could’ve had, the birthday parties that he would have in this time.

The owls started to soar into the Great Hall, dropping letters and parcels in front of students. Of course, Hermione had never received either a letter or a parcel in 1976. Who would send her one? That was why it took her by surprise when, not one, but two parcels and a letter arrived in front of her.

“Someone’s popular”, Remus said, sending a smile in her direction. Hermione blushed.

“Ha, yeah I guess so”, she replied sheepishly.

“Who’s sending you stuff, Mia?”, Lily asked. Lily knew as well as Hermione did that the latter did not have many people in the outside world.

“No idea”, she told the redhead, and she honestly didn’t have any idea. Reluctantly, she picked up one of the parcels and began to open it, increasingly aware that everyone’s eyes were on her.

She found a note inside the brown paper: _“Have a good one, Mia. Have to keep up appearances and all, I suppose. “Dad” x.”_ Hermione nearly laughed out loud. It seemed Aberforth, a man she’d never met but her technical father in this time, had felt the need to send her a birthday present. Dumbledore must have told him the date. Under the note was an assortment of Honeydukes’ finest confectionary. Hermione’s mouth watered as she saw her favourite chocolate bars, Honeydukes’ own brand, as well as Liquorice Wands, Bertie Bott’s, Jelly Slugs, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties and Sugar Quills.

“Wow, someone has an admirer”, Sirius joked, eyes glued to the mountain of sweets Hermione had received.

“They’re from my Dad”, she chuckled. “Must be feeling generous, I suppose.” Hermione still didn’t want to let the whole birthday thing slip, knowing it would become a big deal that she hadn’t told them.

It seemed that Dumbledore had other plans when it came to Hermione’s birthday secrecy, however. As soon as Hermione had touched the second package, it began to sing to Hermione, who grew redder by the second.

“It’s your birthday, Mia? Why didn’t you tell us?”, James asked incredulously.

Hermione shrugged, “I just didn’t want to make a fuss. I’m only new and I didn’t want you all to feel like you had to do something for my birthday. It’s no big deal.”

“No big deal?”, Mary nearly shouted. “It’s your 17th birthday, Mia, of course it’s a big deal. We have to celebrate tonight, and I don’t want to hear any arguments, Dumbledore”, she insisted. Hermione nearly groaned, this was exactly what she had wanted to avoid. The others all quickly agreed, and Hermione just nodded, turning back to her package which had finally stopped singing.

Dumbledore, the obvious sender, had given her a set of books based on charms and curses that were difficult to master. Hermione knew there would be information on Fiendfyre within them, which she was grateful for as the Hogwarts' Library had come up empty on the debatably dark subject. She looked towards the Staff Table and saw Dumbledore smiling down at her. She grinned back.

Finally, she looked to the letter that was left in front of her. Opening it quickly, she saw a short note scribbled inside.

_Happy Birthday, Mia. Go to the library after breakfast._

_R.A.B._

Hermione frowned. She knew from her time that R.A.B. was Regulus, but she didn’t know how he could have possibly known it was her birthday. She also didn’t know why he wanted to meet her, and in the library of all places. It might be her natural habitat, but she didn’t think she had ever seen Regulus within its four walls. She tucked the note away in her jean’s pocket and continued eating her breakfast, trying to avoid any more questions. Looking over to the Slytherin table, she saw that Regulus had already disappeared.

“I think I’m going to go to the library for the day, guys. Try and get a head start on that Potions essay.” She didn’t know why she was so eager to get to the library, but she couldn’t help it. It was like her stomach was in knots – over a 15-year-old. She felt a bit disgusted with herself, but he’d be 16 in February and she was only 17, really. No matter how much she tried and failed to justify it, it wasn’t going to change how she felt.

“On your birthday, Mia? Really?”, Lily asked, looking half-amused and half-concerned.

“Yeah, especially if we’re going to celebrate tonight, I just don’t want to fall behind”, she reasoned.

“But you’re already two weeks ahead of classes, Mia”, Peter added. Hermione shot him a death glare and he shrank back into his seat.

“I understand, Mia”, Remus told her. “Lily and I will probably join you after lunch.” Lily nodded in agreement. Hermione bid them all farewell and gathered her things, preparing to head to the library.

Before she could leave the Great Hall, however, Fabian hopped up from his place at the Gryffindor table and blocked her path. All of his friends wished her a happy birthday and Hermione smiled back, thanking them. Hermione noted that Marlene’s greeting was less than enthusiastic, but the males around her didn’t seem to notice.

“You never told me it was your birthday”, he stated, looking almost hurt.

“I know, and I should have, but I really don’t like making a big deal out of it”, she explained.

“I would have gotten you something.” Godric, he really was just adorable. He looked at her with big, puppy-dog eyes, almost making her feel bad for not letting him get her something. It was ridiculous.

“Well, if you really want to do something for me, you could spend the afternoon with me? That’s enough of a present for any girl”, she said coyly. Who was this new Hermione? She had never been so forward in her life, but she quite liked the rush it gave her. This wasn’t a new Hermione, it was Mia Dumbledore.

Fabian’s cheeks flushed, and Hermione grinned up at him, feeling quite pleased with herself. Maybe there was time for boys in 1976 after all. Dumbledore wasn’t going to let her get up to much until after she graduated, so she might as well try and enjoy herself a little bit.

“I’d like that, Mia”, he smiled, “Meet me on the Quidditch Pitch after lunch?”

Quidditch Pitch? Did that mean flying? That certainly wasn’t something Hermione had signed up for. Before she could tell Fabian that any and all activities involving a broom were off limits, he and his friends had gotten up and started making their way out of the Great Hall. Fabian threw a quick, “See you after lunch!” over his shoulder, before disappearing out into the grounds.

Great. Hermione hoped she wasn’t developing a habit of getting herself into less than ideal situations, but then again, she supposed that that habit had appeared as soon as she had become friends with Harry Potter. As she began walking towards the library, her thoughts were of her friend. Was she being selfish in this timeline? Making friends and flirting with boys? She was here to save Harry, to save everyone, but here she was acting as if she didn’t have a care in the world. Of course, she knew that befriending Harry’s parents was a key part to her plan, but she didn’t have to fight with Sirius, flirt with Fabian or fall for Regulus. Harry would want her to be happy, she knew, but she couldn’t rid herself of the niggling guilt within her.

She was quickly pulled from her thoughts as a hand reached out from the shadows and grabbed her robes, pulling her into an alcove. Her wand was out and pressed against her attacker’s throat before either of them could blink.

“Mia, what in Salazar’s name are you doing? It’s only me”, Regulus held his hands up in submission. Hermione quickly released the breath she had been holding in and lowered her wand. Regulus relaxed as soon as her wand was no longer in sight. He wasn’t expecting the slap to the chest he then received from the witch, though. “Oi, what did you do that for?”, he asked, rubbing the sore spot on his chest.

“Don’t do that to me, Regulus! You’re lucky I didn’t hex you”, she told him, seriously. Regulus realised that sneaking up on her in future would not be a good idea. He had no clue as to why she was so jumpy, but he wanted to find out. Luckily, he had enough tact to realise that now was not the time to probe.

“I’m sorry, Mia. Can you forgive me? I only wanted to surprise you”, he said sincerely. Hermione looked up at him in the dark alcove, meeting his gaze. His grey eyes were searching for any sign of anger in her eyes.

“Of course, I can forgive you, Regulus. I’m just not the biggest fan of surprises, in case you hadn’t already figured that one out”, she joked. “Anyway, I thought you were going to meet me in the library? Why the hell are we in an alcove? And, how did you know it was my birthday in the first place?”, she asked him in a rush. It was as if all of the oddities of the situation had just occurred to her, which they probably had, Regulus thought.

“Hell? Isn’t that a Muggle expression?”, Regulus questioned.

Hermione rolled her eyes, “Of all the things I’ve just said, that’s the only thing you pick up on?” Regulus smirked in response. He was like Ron in that way, she smiled sadly thinking of her friend, her almost lover. “I had a lot of Muggleborn friends in America”, she lied easily. Regulus seemed to interpret her sadness as her missing her friends in America, which wasn’t entirely inaccurate. The only difference was that her friends weren’t in America, they were either in 1998 or dead.

Regulus wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. “You must miss them a lot.” The action surprised Hermione, but she welcomed it, his hold bringing her comfort.

“I do”, she admitted, looking down at her feet, tears burning in her eyes. “I miss them every day and since I’ve been here, there have been moments when I feel almost happy and for a second, just a second, I forget. Then I feel so guilty because how dare I forget them? How dare I be happy without them? I left them behind.” All of the emotions she had been experiencing over the past few weeks seemed to be pouring out in front of Regulus. She didn’t know why, exactly, but it felt right. It was as if she just knew she could trust Regulus. She couldn’t tell him the truth, she would never tell anyone the truth, but she could tell him how she felt, there was nothing wrong with that.

“Mia, look at me”, Regulus commanded. She did. Her teary brown eyes met his steely grey ones, and the tears finally burst through the dam, falling down her cheeks. Regulus brushed them away with his thumb, resting his hand on the side of her face. “Don’t cry, love. Your friends would want you to be happy, it wasn’t your fault you had to leave them. Just because you don’t always feel sad that you’re not with them, it doesn’t mean you don’t miss them and it doesn’t mean you love them any less. Your heart is big enough for your old friends and your new ones, you don’t have to choose between them.”

Hermione smiled softly, Regulus was right: it wasn’t her fault she was no longer with her friends, it was Voldemort’s. She would live her new life, but she would never forget her old one, and she would destroy Voldemort, before he destroyed her friends’ lives again. She met Regulus’ eyes again, they were intoxicating, and chuckled softly, “I thought Slytherins weren’t meant to have any feelings.”

Regulus laughed, “We’re not, but I’ve never been a very good Slytherin.” His head leaned closer to Hermione’s, his thumb still stroking her cheek. Hermione looked up at him, realising what was about to happen. Before her brain could continue overanalysing the situation, his lips met hers and all her thoughts disappeared. All she could think of was the sensation of his lips against hers. They were softer than she expected but demanding at the same time. Hermione gasped as his tongue slid along her lower lip and Regulus seized the opportunity, deepening their kiss. He grabbed her hips, pulling her closer again. Her hands on his chest grabbed at the material of his robes, trying to regain some sense of control over herself. She could feel him pressing against her thigh and suddenly the world seemed to reappear around them.

Hermione pulled back from Regulus, breaking their kiss. He looked disappointed but didn’t say anything, maintaining his grip on her hips. Hermione felt her cheeks flush, knowing what she must look like: wide eyes, parted lips, heavy breathing. Regulus smirked down at her, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. Surely the Fifth Years of Hermione’s time had not been this confident, it wasn’t natural.

“You never answered my question”, she stated, her breathing still a little uneven. At Regulus’ raised brow, she continued, “How did you know it was my birthday?”

“Well, I may not be a very good Slytherin, but I’m a still a Slytherin. I have my ways, Mia”, he winked.

“I’m sure you do”, she smiled, laughing as he kissed her neck. “So, why did you ask me to meet you?” Regulus pulled away from her neck reluctantly and looked down at her seriously.

“I thought that would’ve been fairly obvious, love. I like you. A lot. It’s like I’m drawn to you. Unfortunately, it’s probably not the best idea for us to be seen together. There are a few in my House who wouldn’t be too pleased to see me hanging around with a Gryffindor, particularly a Dumbledore in Gryffindor.” Hermione nodded, she knew he was speaking of the future Death Eaters in Slytherin, they had already formed something of a group while at Hogwarts. Hermione had easily been able to spot Dolohov, Macnair and Rabastan Lestrange together at the Slytherin table, surrounded by other Death Eater hopefuls.

“What do you suggest we do, Regulus? Do you want me to be your dirty, little secret, or something?”, Hermione asked, somewhat angrily. She wanted him as well, but she wasn’t about to be some Pureblood’s little Mudblood secret, even if said Pureblood was unaware of her blood status. Regulus gaped at her, that was evidently what he had had in mind.

“Mia, it’s more complicated than that. I don’t agree with those idiots in my House, but I have to act like I do. It’s what’s expected of me. Sirius was able to escape my parents, but they were never going to let two of us go. I have responsibilities and Dolohov and the rest of them know that. You’re Dumbledore’s niece and being with me would put you in danger. That’s the last thing I want, but I can’t seem to stay away from you. Every time I see you, all I want to do is kiss you, have you be mine, but life isn’t that simple”, he pleaded with her.

Hermione understood where he was coming from, and she was just as drawn to him as he was to her, but that didn’t change the fact that he would have to become a Death Eater to placate his family and his housemates. She couldn’t be a secret forever, it was not the kind of life she had ever wanted for herself in 1998 or in 1976.

“I’m sorry, Regulus, but I can’t”, she said sadly, before exiting the alcove.

“Mia!”, he called after her, but she didn’t look back. She couldn’t. Sirius was wrong about his brother; he wasn’t a bad person, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t hurt her. Self-preservation may have been a Slytherin trait, but it was strong in Hermione Granger and Mia Dumbledore would be no different.

 _Happy Birthday, Hermione_ , she thought bitterly.


	8. Sticking Your Foot In It

_September 19th, 1976._

Hermione spent the rest of the morning completing her essay, just as she had told her friends she would be. She chose to skip lunch in order to get the stupid assignment over and done with – who even cared about Love Potions anyway? Definitely not Hermione Granger. She had been distracted since the whole episode with Regulus, how could a Fifth Year affect her so much? Looking down at her watch, she saw that it was almost time to meet Fabian. She hadn’t been in the best mood after the whole fiasco, so she was less than enthusiastic for her second “date” of the day. However, she knew that wasn’t fair on Fabian, so she pulled herself together and started to make her way down to the Quidditch Pitch.

As she descended the stairs, the enchantment placed upon the castle decided to change the staircases. Just her luck. Godric knew how long she would be waiting before they changed back. Hermione quickly realised that she wasn’t alone on the landing of the stairs, turning to see Marlene McKinnon a few feet away from her.

“McKinnon”, Hermione nodded politely. She may not be Marlene’s biggest fan, but she wasn’t looking to start any bad blood between the pair either. After all, Marlene had no idea that Hermione and Lily had seen her and Sirius the other day.

“Dumbledore”, she acknowledged, “Hope the birthday is going well.”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “Yeah, well…it could be better.” Marlene looked at the younger girl appraisingly.

“Boy trouble?”, she asked. Marlene was keeping her voice casual, but Hermione knew it was a loaded question; not only was Marlene interested in Sirius, but she was also Fabian’s friend.

Hermione saw that the stairs had begun to move back in their direction before she answered, glad of the opportunity to escape. “You know how younger men can be, Marlene – more trouble than they’re worth”, Hermione said cryptically. Before Marlene could probe her for more information, Hermione continued down the stairs, hurrying out of the castle. She knew she was late, but she was hoping she would be able to use the stairs as an excuse.

Luckily enough, Fabian didn’t seem to care that Hermione was late. His face lit up as he saw her enter the grounds, his eyes had been glued to the entrance of the pitch. Hermione smiled at him in return, but her smile quickly fell as she saw the two brooms Fabian was holding. “No. Not happening. Absolutely no chance. No way. Not in a million years”, she insisted, before he could say anything.

“Not a fan of flying I take it?”, he laughed. Hermione shook her head vehemently. “Well, I plan on changing that”, Fabian winked at her. She nearly snorted, Hermione had ridden a broom, a Hippogriff, a Thestral and a bloody dragon; it wasn’t likely that Fabian was going to change her mind now.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Non.”

“Oui.”

“Nein.”

“Ja.”

Hermione burst out laughing, knowing the pair of them were quickly running out of languages to argue in. “Alright, I’ll fly.” Fabian grinned at her. “But, I’m not flying alone. We’re going to share a broom. Don’t give me that look, Prewett. It’s a self-preservation thing, not an “I fancy you” thing”, she told him, rolling her eyes.

“But you do fancy me a little, Dumbledore. Don’t deny it.” Godric, this boy was cheeky. Hermione realised that she hadn’t thought about this morning since she had walked onto the pitch; Fabian may not make her stomach flip in the way Regulus did, but he certainly could cheer her up. Things weren’t as serious when she was with him; it was as if all of her problems just disappeared.

“That’s not very appropriate for the Head Boy to say now is it, Fabian?”, she teased. “Anyway, I’m assuming you play Quidditch?”

“Keeper”, he replied proudly.

“Huh, I would have pegged you and Gideon for Beaters”, she mused, thinking of Fred and George.

“Godric, no. Gideon and I would never be able to work in tandem enough for that position”, he admitted, surprising Hermione. The Prewett twins, despite reminding her so greatly of her friends from the past, were not Fred and George, and she had to remember that. “Gideon plays Chaser with Potter and McDonald. Black and Benjy are Beaters and Emmeline Vance, a Fifth Year, is our Seeker. Gideon is Captain this year, but Potter will take over next year when we’re gone.”

“Godric, don’t tell him that yet, his ego is big enough as it is already”, Hermione joked. She tried not to think too much about Emmeline Vance. Of course, she had seen her around the Gryffindor Common Room, but she had avoided all thoughts of her up until this point, knowing the date of people’s deaths did not make it easy to be around them.

“So, are you going to let me take you for your birthday ride now?”, he winked.

“Cheeky, Prewett. You’d want to watch that mouth of yours, could get you in trouble.” Despite her teasing, Hermione did acquiesce and climbed on the broom Fabian had already mounted. Deciding that being able to see what was happening was the safer option, she chose to sit in front of Fabian, his strong arms wrapping around her to reach around the broom.

They were in the air before Hermione could tell him to take it easy, rising quickly, the space between Hermione and the ground increasing rapidly. She squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to look down but not being able to stop herself. Both of her hands were wrapped tightly around the handle of the broom. Fabian chuckled behind her as they began to move around the pitch, “I thought you were braver than that, Dumbledore.” Hermione didn’t appreciate his teasing, but it seemed to have the desired effect as she opened her eyes and loosened her grip slightly. “That’s better. You’ll never enjoy it if you don’t relax.”

So, she did. Hermione relaxed. She felt free, weightless. She knew that Fabian was doing all the work and that she would probably never have the guts to get up on a broom alone, but that didn’t matter now.

Now, she was flying.

A few hours later, Hermione made her way back up to the Common Room, feeling far more relaxed than she had after her time with Regulus. Fabian had opted to stay on the pitch and get in a little bit of practice before they lost the daylight. Fabian… Fabian was good for her. He helped her to forget about her problems, even if it was only for a couple of hours at a time. _But…_

But, he wasn’t Regulus. He wasn’t Sirius. He didn’t boil her blood in the way that it seemed only a Black could do. She wasn’t even sure how she felt about either of the brothers, but she knew that Fabian would never be able to challenge her in the way she wanted him to. However, just because Hermione couldn’t envision herself being with Fabian in the long-term, that didn’t mean that they couldn’t have fun together. He cared about her and sometimes that was enough, even if it was only temporary. She would have to make sure she and Fabian were on the same page though, she didn’t want to hurt him.

Entering the Common Room, she was quickly shoved back out of the portrait hole by two very excited Animagi. “James? Sirius? What the hell are you doing?”, Hermione shouted. Remus followed the three of them before the portrait swung shut.

“I’m sorry about them, Mia. They can get a bit excitable, particularly when it comes to birthdays. You’re the first of us to turn 17, you see. It’s all a bit much for these animals”, Remus explained. Hermione didn’t miss the wink that both James and Sirius threw at Remus.

“Can’t be tamed, Mia”, Sirius winked. He was being far more flirtatious with her than he had been in weeks and Hermione felt her cheeks redden uncontrollably.

“Well, that may be, but there’s no need to manhandle me. You’re not a dog, Black”, Hermione challenged. Sirius’s eyes widened briefly before he relaxed, realising that there was no way she could know of their secret. Both of the boys released her arms at her protestations, but James wrapped an arm around her shoulders and Sirius did the same at her waist, ensuring she was going nowhere.

“You’d be surprised, Mia. Riddled with fleas, he is”, James joked. Remus snorted beside the trio and Hermione narrowed her eyes. They really weren’t overly subtle, were they? Sirius looked down at her, seeing the suspicion in her eyes. He wondered if she’d figure them out. Nobody else had yet, but Mia Dumbledore wasn’t nobody.

“That’s what happens when you get up to all sorts in broom closets, James.” Hermione was only teasing, but she was secretly pleased with the pink tinge that appeared on Sirius’s cheeks. “Anyway, where in Godric’s name are we going?”, she asked. They had begun climbing the stairs and eventually settled on the seventh floor. Hermione had a good idea of where they were headed, but she wasn’t supposed to know anything about the Room of Requirement. In the Marauders’ minds, she had been a student there for less than three weeks.

“We are going to your birthday party, Miss Dumbledore”, James said with a flourish as a door appeared where Remus had been pacing.

“But what about dinner? It’s not even 6 o’clock?”, she protested.

“No need to worry, Mia. We’ve got everything sorted”, Sirius whispered into her ear, sending shivers down her spine. Her thoughts flew to Regulus, but she quickly snapped out of it. Her and Regulus were an impossibility and that was that. Remus opened the door that had appeared, and Hermione knew she’d have to enlist her hidden acting talents.

“What is this place?”, she asked with a mixture of curiosity and awe. Not too bad, Granger. Not bad at all.

“This is the Come and Go Room, Mia. It’ll give you any room you want, depending on what you need at the time. We needed a suitable location for a birthday party”, Remus told her. The four of them walked into an exact copy of the Gryffindor Common Room to see Lily, Mary, Alice, Frank and Peter decorating it with balloons and streamers.

“The Common Room?”

“Well, we couldn’t exactly have had a party in the actual Common Room, could we? Too many snooping students”, Mary called from a table covered in food. The elves from the kitchen had evidently lent a helping hand.

“Especially not when Frank has provided us with the goods”, Sirius said, holding up a bottle of Firewhisky in each hand.

“We have classes tomorrow!”, Hermione and Lily objected at the same time.

“Hence, why we’re doing it now rather than in a few hours. If we’re all passed out by 9 o’clock, we’ll be fresh for the morning”, James explained. Hermione wasn’t sure that was how it worked, but she decided not to fight him on it. It had been a long day, so much had happened, and to be perfectly honest, Hermione could do with a drink. Her head was all over the place.

Alice had come over to her, asking was it alright for Frank to be here, but Hermione brushed it off quickly. “He’s your boyfriend, Alice, of course he’s welcome. And I’m sure it wasn’t his idea to get the Firewhisky, James and Sirius just can’t wait to be 17”, she reassured her roommate. Alice squeezed her arm in thanks before running over to help Peter. How the boy had managed to get himself into a spot of bother with a balloon, she’d never know. He really was quite pathetic.

“Presents!”, Lily shouted. Everyone congregated on the couches and armchairs by the roaring fire, and Hermione struggled to be heard over the excited voices.

“I told you not to make a fuss, guys. Presents equal fuss”, she admonished, rolling her eyes at her friends.

“It’s your birthday, Mia. Your 17th birthday, it only happens once”, Remus told her. Hermione nearly snorted, it may only happen once for most people, but she was getting to experience it for a second time.

“Anyway, Dumbledore gave us special permission to run down to Hogsmeade to get you something. He agreed with us that it was a typical “Mia” thing to not tell anyone it was your birthday and that everyone deserves presents on their birthday”, James explained seriously. Hermione had to smile, he really was a sweetheart. If she didn’t know he was her best mate’s dad she might even fancy him a little bit. When she first met him, he reminded her so much of Harry that it hurt, but she quickly realised that they were very different men, despite their physical similarities, and it hurt a little less every day that she spent with him.

“And it gave Frank the chance to buy the Firewhisky”, Sirius added, ruining the moment. Hermione rolled her eyes but grabbed the bottle from Sirius and took a swig, the liquid burned her throat, but not as much as it used to. She had spent the first two weeks after the Final Battle drowning her sorrows and she adapted to the fire-like alcohol. Kingsley had found her drunk and crying, in a state that Hermione never wanted to be in again. After that, she had started to formulate her plan with the Minister and the rest, as they say, was history.

A few presents were thrust at Hermione and she accepted them gratefully, “You really shouldn’t have.”

“Well we did, so you better get on with it”, Mary teased. Hermione acquiesced and opened the first gift she could reach. It was book-shaped, the type of gift Hermione was familiar with.

“That one’s from me, Mia. I’m not sure if you have it already, but it’s my favourite book and I thought you’d like it”, Remus told her. She opened the wrapping paper to reveal Hogwarts: A History, her favourite book since the age of eleven. Of course, she did have a copy in her beaded bag, but that was a copy from 1996 and it would never see the light of day here.

“No, I don’t have it, but I’ve wanted it ever since I started here. Thank you so much, Remus, I love it”, she told him, wrapping him in a warm hug. She wasn’t technically lying; she didn’t own this version of the book and she missed reading her own, but it was too risky. She truly did love the present, it was so thoughtful. She and Remus had realised their shared love of books, something Hermione had already known from her Remus in the future, and the pair had taken to studying together often with Lily joining them most of the time.

“This is from the girls, Mia”, Lily told her sweetly, handing her another book-shaped gift. It was a diary, covered in light-blue leather. It was beautiful. “We figured you needed a place to track all of your assignments and study, but if it’s going to be filled with boring information, it might as well be nice to look at”, she joked.

“It’s perfect, thank you”, Hermione said, pulling all three girls into a hug. The third and final present was more sloppily wrapped and was definitely not book-shaped. Hermione smile grew wider as she ripped off the paper to reveal a leather jacket, she knew exactly who it was from.

“That one’s from me and James”, Sirius said nervously. After receiving a swift elbow to the ribs from James, he added, “Ooof…and Peter, of course. I figured we don’t know you very well, but I saw it in Hogsmeade today and it just seemed…I don’t know, tough, I guess, like you. Plus, everyone looks hotter in a leather jacket.” Hermione smiled, wiping a stray tear from her eye. The Sirius from her time had always told her he’d get her a leather jacket when she was “old enough”, but he had died before her 17th birthday. She liked to think that he would’ve have gotten her one then, but this confirmed it for her. “Oi, Mia, none of those tears”, Sirius said before Hermione lunged at him, wrapping him in a hug. He might not be her Sirius, but he was well on his way. She pulled away quickly, realising how forward she had been and hugged James as well. She smiled at Peter in thanks, she didn’t think she’d ever be able to make actual physical contact with the rat.

“Thank you. All of you. I don’t know what I’d do without you, honestly. It was so hard to leave my friends from home and I miss them so much, but you guys make it easier. You’ve made this place home for me”, Hermione told the group sincerely. While they thought the new “home” she was speaking of was Britain, she really meant 1976.

Remus, who was sitting beside her, wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side. Hermione relaxed into him, there was something so safe about Remus even if he thought he was a monster. She would let him know at some point that she knew his secret, let him know that people didn’t care that he was a werewolf, but not yet. Not enough time had passed to make it believable that she had figured it all out on her own, and Remus didn’t know her well enough yet to truly trust her with his secret.

“Alright, enough of this sappy shit. Is this a party or not?”, Mary said, grabbing another bottle of Firewhisky from the box. How many had Frank bought? “I think it’s time for a little game of Never Have I Ever…”

Oh Godric, Hermione thought, this was never going to end well. If the whole group made it to their first class tomorrow morning, Hermione would be very impressed. She figured her tolerance would be higher than most of theirs, however she hadn’t eaten since breakfast. She quickly ran to the table full of food and grabbed a few sandwiches, bringing them back to her seat. Only a fool would attempt to drink with Marauders on an empty stomach.

“Now Mia, we take our drinking games very seriously. There can be no lying”, James told her seriously. Hermione gulped. “One of the bottles of Firewhisky is laced with Veritaserum, made specifically by Ogden’s for the purpose of such games. We’ll all take a shot of the laced bottle before we play, sound good?” Hermione simply nodded.

“Don’t worry, if you genuinely don’t want to go into a certain topic, just drink and tell us not to ask any more questions. The game only makes you take a shot if you’ve done something, you don’t have to go into specifics, but we usually do. Just tell us if we’ve gone too far”, Remus assured her. Hermione smiled at him, feeling somewhat comforted. She was surprised that Lily, Mary and Alice were so up for it. Well, actually that Lily and Alice were up for it, Mary wasn’t much of a surprise, but she supposed that the girls had already been in school with the boys for five years. This can’t have been the first time that alcohol was brought into the group.

“Let’s do this”, Hermione said with far more confidence than she actually had. Shots were magically poured into glasses in front of everybody.

“Never have I ever gotten a detention”, Lily said with a small smile on her face, knowing that all of the Marauders would be drinking. Everyone aside from Lily and Alice took a shot. The group looked to Hermione in surprise.

“Well, the surprises just keep coming with you, don’t they, Dumbledore?”, Sirius said appraisingly.

“In my Fifth Year, there was a particularly wretched professor. She handed detentions out like they were candy. Me and all of my friends were in a group detention for weeks”, Hermione explained. She supposed her Fifth Year would have technically been last year in this timeline, but she was sure the others wouldn’t question her on it.

“A group detention for what?”, Peter asked. Hermione resisted the urge to glare at him, taking a few seconds to control herself.

“My best friend formed an illegal group to practice defensive magic and someone ratted us out. I do hate rats, don’t you, Peter?”, Hermione smirked. Peter visibly gulped, and the Marauders shared a look.

“America sounds wild, Mia”, Alice said in awe. “I hope I’m never against you in a duel”, she joked, breaking the tension in the group. Hermione noticed that the shot glasses had refilled themselves automatically.

“Never have I ever fancied a Professor”, Mary said. The group laughed as both James and Sirius took their shot, saying “Love you Minnie” in sync. Hermione was sure that Professor McGonagall was more than acquainted with the boys’ antics. Hermione felt the compulsion to pick up her shot glass as well and downed the drink. She blushed, realising that the Professor in question was sitting right beside her in his 16-year-old self. Sure, she had been infatuated with Lockhart in Second Year, but she had been truly in love with Professor Lupin the following year. Lily also took her shot but refused to tell anyone who her crush was. Sirius said he was convinced it was Slughorn, but Lily merely rolled her eyes at that.

“Never have I ever been fancied by a ginger”, Frank stated, staring directly at Hermione. She blushed and dutifully took her shot, starting to feel the effects of the alcohol. Sirius also drank, along with Mary and Peter (as if anyone would fancy the rat).

“I swear to Merlin, James Potter, if you dare take that shot, I’ll hex you”, Lily said.

“One day, Evans. One day”, James said confidently. The group continued on like that for around another hour or so, the boys coming up with quite imaginative ideas. Everything had gone smoothly until Peter had to shove his bloody foot in it.

“Never have I ever kissed a Black.”


	9. What Do You Care?

“Never have I ever kissed a Black.”

Hermione could’ve killed him. She saw Sirius laugh and take a shot, obviously having kissed a family member at some point in his life. James and Remus both drank as well, putting it down to drunk nights when Sirius had felt the need to show them how much he loved them. Mary, surprisingly, also took a drink, but explained that Sirius had been her first kiss when she was 12. Hermione could feel the effects of the Veritaserum taking hold and she couldn’t stop her hand from picking up her glass and downing the shot.

Sirius’s eyes immediately snapped to hers. “Regulus?”, he demanded. “Did you kiss Regulus?” Hermione couldn’t meet his eyes as she nodded. Lily gasped. James and Remus shared a look. Sirius swore. “When, Mia? When did you do it?”

“This morning”, she admitted. She couldn’t lie to Sirius, it would do no good. The truth was out, she’d have to deal with the consequences sooner or later.

“Fuck”, Sirius nearly shouted. He stormed out of the Room of Requirement before Hermione could say anything else. Hermione stood up to go after him, but Remus grabbed her arm.

“Give him a bit of time, Mia. He needs to calm down”, he advised her. The rest of the group stayed silent, but she knew they agreed.

“No, Remus. If I don’t talk to him now, he’ll pretend I don’t exist for a week and I’m not having it. Give me the map, I know one of you has it on you at all times”, she demanded. The three remaining Marauders gaped at her. “Yes, I know about your bloody map, you’re not exactly subtle. That’s not important right now though, so just give me the fucking map”, she was getting more and more worked up the longer it went on. She needed to do damage control with Sirius and she needed to do it now. James handed the map over, refusing to argue with the angry witch. The others had never seen her like this before; Hermione didn’t often get angry, but when she did nobody was stupid enough to stand in her way.

“Be careful, Mia”, Lily called as Hermione made her way towards the exit.

“It’s Sirius, Lils. He won’t hurt me, there’ll just be a bit of an argument and a lot of sulking.” Despite the tension, the group laughed, knowing it was true. Regulus was a sore subject for Sirius, but he would never hurt any of his friends.

As Hermione left the Room of Requirement, she could hear Lily’s voice. “What map was she on about?”, she asked. It seemed she had unintentionally ratted the boys out. She didn’t think it was that big a secret, the boys were constantly holding that scrap of paper. Wait until Lily found out they were Animagi and Remus was a werewolf.

Looking down at the paper in her hands, she tapped it with her wand. “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good”, she stated. It had been a while since she had last used the map. This version was certainly a lot newer, not as battered and used as the one from her time. She scoured the map for Sirius’s name, noting that her own appeared as Mia Dumbledore, rather than Hermione Granger. Thank Godric for that, she thought. Otherwise the boys would have had a few more questions about her arrival than they did. It made sense, though. The Marauders’ Map showed a person’s name and in 1976, her name was officially Mia Dumbledore. She had been adopted by a Dumbledore and Hermione Granger had yet to be born. It would’ve been possible for her not to appear on the map at all as she technically didn’t exist in this time, however luck had been on her side.

Finally coming across Sirius’s name pacing backwards and forwards in the Astronomy Tower, Hermione turned in that direction. Of course, he had gone to the Astronomy Tower. Sirius had told her before that when he got worked up, looking at the stars helped him to calm down. He’d go from constellation to constellation identifying every star he could until eventually, his problems didn’t seem to matter as much. Judging by the fact that he seemed to be attempting to wear a hole in the floor of the Astronomy Tower, she didn’t think he’d gotten to the stage of looking at the stars yet. She didn’t know what she was going to say to him. _Eh yeah, I guess I fancy your brother, but don’t worry. Nothing is ever going to happen between us because he’s going to become a Death Eater._ Yeah, not likely.

When she finally arrived on the top floor of the Astronomy Tower, slightly out of breath, Sirius had stopped pacing. _Thank Godric_ , she thought. There were levels to Sirius’s anger and pacing was one of the highest. At least now she would probably be able to have a conversation with him.

“Sirius?”

“Go away.” _Or not_ , she thought ruefully.

“Let me explain, please.”

“What’s there to explain, Mia? I told you to stay away from him”, he said, finally turning around to face her. “You know the kind of people he hangs out with. You may be new to the school, but you’re not blind. Everyone can see where that group is heading and it’s nowhere good. I’d be surprised if some of them weren’t marked already”, he spat angrily.

“He’s not a bad person, Sirius”, she tried to defend him.

“Oh, and you know him so much better than I do?”, he challenged. He had her on that one; just because Regulus had been nice to her since her arrival, it didn’t mean that he didn’t hate Muggleborns and it certainly didn’t mean that he wouldn’t become loyal to Voldemort in the future.

“That’s not what I’m saying, Sirius. When was the last time you actually talked to him? Did you ever think that he might want to get out? Like you did?”, she asked.

“He doesn’t, Mia. He believes all that blood supremacy shit, trust me.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure. He told me that since you left, it’s been harder for him. Your parents may have let you go, but they’d never lose both of you. Maybe with a bit of persuasion, Regulus might be able to see our side of things better. He’s not a lost cause yet, Sirius”, she explained.

“Oh yeah and you’re going to do that by letting him into your knickers, are you?” he goaded. Hermione knew he was only lashing out at her because he was hurt. She refused to take the bait.

“I’m not saying any of this to make you feel guilty, I won’t pretend to know what you or Regulus have been through. And I’m not going to insult you by trying to make up excuses about what happened. I knew that you’d be hurt if you found out and I’m sorry for that, but it happened and there’s nothing I can do about that now.”

“Why did you do it? Why him? There are so many other people in this castle”, he said, looking into her eyes.

“Why did you kiss Marlene McKinnon a couple of weeks ago? Why do you kiss anyone? I like him Sirius. What do you care anyway?”, Hermione replied. Bringing up Marlene might have been a bit petty, but she couldn’t help herself. If Sirius was surprised that she knew about that incident, he didn’t show it. His face had taken on a perfect, Pureblood mask, making it impossible to know what he was thinking.

“What do I care? You’re honestly asking me that? I care that he’ll never treat you right, Mia. He won’t tell his friends about you, he won’t call you his girlfriend. He’ll never take you home to meet my parents, you’re a half-blood and therefore, unworthy of the Heir to the House of Black.” Sirius was being cruel at this point, he knew that. He saw a tear slip down Mia’s cheek, but he couldn’t help himself. He was hurt. _How dare she kiss his brother?_ She was supposed to be his, fuck whatever James thought. “He’ll use you and you’ll always have that little slither of hope that he’ll defy our parents and marry you, but he won’t. He’ll accept whatever marriage contract they draw up like the good son he is. What will you be then, Mia? His mistress? No, you’re better than that, or at least I hope you are”, he said spitefully. Sirius was cutting her right where it hurt the most, she had always been proud to be a Muggleborn, but she had been singled out for it ever since she found out about magic. Mia Dumbledore may be a half-blood, but that didn't make Hermione Granger's hurt go away. She subconsciously rubbed her forearm, where her scar should be, where it would be in less than two years. She couldn't hold back her anger at him any longer.

“Do you not think I know that, Sirius Black?”, Hermione shouted, tears streaming down her face. “I already know how things would play out. That’s why I told him today that it could never happen again, that I wouldn’t be his dirty little secret. I walked away from him Sirius, you’d know that if you hadn’t gone off in a strop earlier. But no, you went and assumed that I was some stupid, little teenage girl who needed to be protected. As if you’d protect me? You say your brother is a bad person, but if that’s the case, then you’re an awful one. You’re a hypocrite, Sirius Black. You treat girls like absolute shite and then you have the audacity to tell me that other guys won’t treat me right. How dare you? Regulus may not have very nice friends, he may not have escaped Grimmauld Place and he may not be a Gryffindor, but he’s treated me far better than you have, Sirius.” She only realised that she’d slipped up by mentioning his ancestral home after the fact, but it seemed Sirius was too worked up to notice. She had lost it, which she hadn’t intended to do, but she wasn’t about to let him treat her like she was some damsel in distress, too pathetic to see what was really going on. Hermione Granger could look after herself, thank you very much.

Sirius was taken aback at this point, he hadn’t expected such a reaction from Mia. Perhaps, he had underestimated her a bit. “Mia…”

“Forget it, Sirius. I came here to say sorry, and I’ve done that. I don’t need you to look out for me, I’ve been doing that just fine for longer than you can imagine. Feel free to come back to me when you’ve grown up a bit.” Hermione made to walk back down the stairs but turned at the last second, “Talk to your brother. Don’t just give up on him. Imagine if James hadn’t given you the chance to escape your family’s reputation in First Year.” With that, she was gone, leaving behind a shocked and contemplative Sirius. What in Merlin’s name had just happened?

Sirius knew that he had been unnecessarily mean to her. He was taking out his own hurt on her just because his little brother had beat him to the punch. She had a point, he hadn’t had a proper conversation with Regulus since he had left Grimmauld Place the previous summer, and even then, that had merely been a last-ditch attempt to get him to go with him. In hindsight, he knew that Regulus could’ve never gone with him. Sirius had a support network outside of his family and other Purebloods, but Regulus had no one. No one except him.

He would talk to Regulus – he might punch him first, but he would talk to him. The absolute cheek of Regulus kissing his girl, but she wasn’t his girl. He didn’t realise she had known about his tryst with Marlene, but it seemed Mia knew more about him than he thought. She saw right through him, right through his bullshit. She called him out on his shit and he liked that. He didn’t particularly like that right at that moment, he knew he’d have to do a fair bit of grovelling to get back in Mia’s good graces, which included attempting to talk with his brother.

Sirius doubted that Regulus could be turned away from his family’s ideals, but Sirius had managed it, there was still hope. He and Regulus had been so close growing up, Sirius had always been the more rebellious of the two, but they were brothers, and nothing could come between them. That had been the case until Sirius had gone to Hogwarts and been sorted into Gryffindor. Regulus had been home alone with his mother for a whole year, being brainwashed even more than he already had been. Sirius hadn’t been there to protect him, and he had been so caught up with rebelling against his parents, that he forgot that all of the pressure would then be put on Regulus. Since his brother had been sorted into Slytherin, Sirius had assumed that he would be no different than the rest of his family, but maybe he had been wrong. Mia was usually right, after all.

Her words had cut him to the core, _“he’s treated me far better than you have, Sirius…”_ He knew that he had crossed a line with her and that was on him. No matter how hurt he was over the kiss, he had no right to lash out at her as he had. He could be so childish when he didn’t get his way. He kicked the wall out of frustration; he was frustrated with himself for the way he had acted, frustrated with his brother for doing what he wished he could and frustrated with Mia for not wanting him the way she wanted his brother.

This girl was turning his life on its head, he had been perfectly content until she showed up and now he had no fucking idea what to do.


	10. Difficult Conversations

_September 20 th, 1976._

Hermione hadn’t bothered going back to the Room of Requirement the night before, she figured that the rest of them would have already cleaned up and headed back to the real Common Room. It wasn’t overly late at that point, but Hermione had wanted to go straight to bed, both physically and emotionally exhausted. It had been a long day.

Unfortunately, going to bed early meant that Hermione woke up at an ungodly hour. While most people would not consider 6am to be ridiculously early, Hermione had always valued extra time in bed over actually making herself look presentable in the mornings. She knew she would never be able to go back to sleep at this hour and she could hear Mary already bustling around, preparing to go on her daily run.

“Mary?”, Hermione said, poking her head out of the curtains. Mary looked up from tying her runners, surprised that any of her roommates were actually awake. She always managed to get a run in on weekdays, wanting to stay as fit as possible for Quidditch, but the other girls weren’t big on physical activity.

“Mia? I didn’t wake you, did I?”, she asked worriedly.

“No, not at all. I just fell asleep earlier than usual last night. Mind if I join you on your run?” Hermione hopped out of bed and started getting dressed, figuring she’d come back for a shower after the run.

“Of course, you can. What’s brought this on?”

“Figured I need to do something about my fitness, had to climb up to the top of the Astronomy Tower to find Sirius last night and I was pretty out of breath by the time I got there. I used to be much fitter, so I’d like to get back to that”, she admitted. It was true, before she had gone on the run, becoming malnourished and severely underweight, she had been in good shape. After the Final Battle, she had put back on some weight but had never attempted to get fit again.

“Well, you’re always welcome to join me. I like the company”, Mary smiled. The two girls made their way down to the Quidditch Pitch where Mary liked to run laps. “So, do you want to talk about last night or not?”, she asked as the pair began a light jog.

“Maybe later, right now I just want to clear my head of everything.” Mary nodded in understanding, Hermione liked that about her – she never pushed, she waited for you to come to her. It was a pleasant change from the gossipy roommates she had had in her own time. Lily and Alice were great friends as well, but Hermione knew they’d push her for more later. The silence between the two girls was comfortable. Mary was a good running partner, she didn’t comment when Hermione had to stop to catch her breath and she didn’t make a fuss of having to go slower on her behalf. She knew that the athletic girl was holding back, but she didn’t seem to mind.

After about forty-five minutes, Hermione was fit to collapse, and it seemed Mary could sense it. “We can head back now and grab a shower if you want”, she offered kindly. Hermione nodded gratefully, and the two girls started to stroll back towards the castle, they were in no rush as breakfast wouldn’t start until 8am, it was barely 7 at that point.

“Basically, we both said some pretty mean shit last night, but Sirius crossed a line and I think he knows that. I told him he has to talk to his brother, give him a chance”, Hermione said out of nowhere.

“Woah, okay. Do you think he’ll actually do it?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. I hope so. I told him nothing’s happening between me and Regulus, I told Regulus that when we kissed. It’s an impossibility as long as he is the way he is”, she told her friend.

“Blimey, Mia. I don’t know what to tell you. If Sirius actually grows some balls and apologises, you’ve accomplished more than the rest of the female population of Hogwarts”, Mary joked. Hermione thought back to when Sirius apologised to her a few weeks ago. _Had that been a bigger deal than she had originally thought?_ That had been about Regulus as well, it seemed he would continually be an issue for the pair until Sirius actually fixed his relationship with his brother, if he ever did.

The girls didn’t speak any more on the matter, choosing to speak about lighter topics, such as the classes they had for the rest of the day. Monday was one of the few days where the girls had a near matching timetable: double D.A.D.A. and Transfiguration in the morning, followed by Charms in the afternoon. Hermione would have Ancient Runes after that, whereas Mary would have Herbology. Lily would be taking Herbology with the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, rather than the rest of the Gryffindors, as Ancient Runes only had one class group and it was the only way Lily could take both classes. Monday was one of the few days Mary and the others had a full timetable, whereas Lily, Remus and Hermione had one nearly every day. Two extra subjects could really make a difference. Each of her classes had three hours of teaching a week; Tuesday and Friday were her quiet days with only three classes on each of them, but every other day had five hours, although some of them were double classes. Hermione liked being busy though and she had covered everything already in her first Sixth Year, so the real challenge wouldn’t come until next year.

When the girls arrived back in their dorm, they practically ran to the showers. The hot water beating against Hermione’s skin was soothing after her run. She knew her muscles would be aching the following day, but she would continue and get back to where she used to be. She felt better after confiding in Mary. She hadn’t told her everything, but what little she had said still gave her a sense of relief.

Everyone aside from Sirius was sitting at the Gryffindor Table by the time Mary and Hermione arrived down for breakfast. “I’m sorry for ruining last night on everybody”, Hermione said as soon as she sat down.

The other girls brushed her off immediately, assuring her their only concern was her. Remus and Peter both sent a smile in her direction and James squeezed her hand slightly, “He’ll come around, Mia.”

“Well, we’ll see about that. A lot of things were said last night, I won’t go into it, but I don’t think things will just go back to normal. I’m not ready to forgive him yet”, she admitted, eyes cast down at her breakfast. The boys all looked at each other in surprise, Sirius hadn’t said anything when he had come in late the night before, but they didn’t realise that Sirius would be the one needing to apologise rather than Mia. What had he said? They would be having a conversation later, whether he wanted to or not.

As the owls arrived at breakfast, one unceremoniously dropped a parcel in front of Hermione. _Not again_ , she rolled her eyes. Who was sending her things now? The parcel was quite small and neatly wrapped. Hermione opened it carefully to reveal a jewellery box with a note on top.

_I never got to give this to you yesterday. I hope you like them._

_I’m sorry._

_Happy Birthday…again._

_R.A.B._

The note was simple, but her breath caught as she opened the box to reveal the most beautiful pair of pearl earrings; they were small and delicate and so perfectly Hermione.

“Wow, Hermione they’re gorgeous”, said Alice, leaning over the table to get a look at her present.

“Who are they from?”, asked James.

“Just another present from my Dad. Guess he’s really spoiling me this year, it’s the first birthday I’ve spent in Britain since I was five”, she lied easily.

Mary, who had been sitting close beside her, saw the note and knew she was lying through her teeth. It didn’t take her long to figure out who R.A.B. was. “I thought you said it was over between you two?”, she whispered to Hermione.

“I did”, she said, looking over to the Slytherin Table where a pair of grey eyes met her own.

 

_September 22nd, 1976._

"What the fuck did you say to her, Padfoot?", James demanded. He had noticed how Mia had been completely ignoring Sirius over the past two days, acting as if he wasn't even there. Whatever he had said to her, it must have been bad. "I told you not to hurt her. I couldn't give a shit about your extracurricular activities, but I specifically told you not to hurt Mia", he seethed. _  
_

"What's it to you, Prongs? This is between me and Mia, no one else. Stay out of it." Sirius had never spoken to James like that before and James didn't know what to say to him. He was taken aback by the venom in his friend's voice.

"Fine, deal with it yourself. Do it soon, though. It's bloody awkward having two of my friends not speaking to each other", James admitted. He turned to leave their shared dorm, before turning back to look at his best friend. Sirius was exhausted, James knew he hadn't been sleeping well the past couple of nights. "I don't know if this is all about Mia, but whatever it is, it's affecting you. The longer this goes on, the worse it'll be. You know you're only hurting yourself in the long run."

"I know", Sirius said honestly. James could see the sincerity in his eyes. The pair didn't normally discuss their feelings or anything too serious, but Sirius knew he would be there for him if he needed him, or at least James hoped he did. It was clear that Sirius's mind had been plagued by whatever was going on. James left his friend to his thoughts.

 

_September 25th, 1976._

"Eat, Padfoot. This isn't you, it's not healthy", Remus said, looking at his friend in concern. He had never seen Sirius like this and, although Mia was a great girl, he couldn't imagine that this was all about her. If it were, he was sure Sirius would have just carried out some over-dramatic apology in the middle of Transfiguration, not that that would have won Mia over. Whatever it was, Remus hoped he would sort it out soon.

 

_September 26th, 1976._

"Sirius, can I do anything to help?"

"Not this time, Wormtail. I'm afraid this one is down to me", Sirius told his mate, resigned to the fact that this had been going on far too long.

 

_September 27 th, 1976._

Sirius was stalling. He knew Mia wouldn’t so much as look in his direction until he had at least attempted to reconcile with his brother, but that was easier said than done. She had been giving him the cold shoulder for nearly a week now, refusing to acknowledge him unless it was absolutely necessary. He knew apologising was pointless, it wasn’t what Mia wanted from him. At least it didn’t seem that his brother had made much more progress with her. He had noticed Regulus looking at her, but Mia was standing her ground on that one as well. Sirius vowed to never get on her bad side again, he had thought Lily’s silent treatment was bad, but she had nothing on Mia.

He checked the map again. Regulus was still in the Slytherin Common Room, surrounded by Dolohov, Snape, Macnair and Lestrange. How could Mia not see that it was already too late for him? Lestrange was rotten to the core, just like his older brother. Macnair was more of a follower, but no less dangerous. Snivellus was too intelligent for his own good and the others knew he would be valuable to their side after school. Dolohov was just plain creepy. According to Lily and Mary, he had been seen loitering around the girls’ bathrooms one too many times. His brother wasn’t like them, he knew, but he was weak.

Hours seemed to pass until eventually Regulus left the Common Room to do his Prefect rounds. Mother had been so bloody pleased by his appointment. “ _Of course, you’re a prefect, darling. Even Dumbledore can recognise good breeding when he sees it…”_ Sirius shuddered, he was so glad not to be trapped in that house anymore.

Following his brother’s footsteps on the map, Sirius eventually “bumped into him” on the Second Floor. “Reggie, what’re you doing here?”, he asked, as if he wasn’t the one out after hours.

“I could ask you the same thing, brother”, Regulus said coolly. The brothers were barely on speaking terms - Sirius knew this was going to be a challenge, but he still had to try. “It’s past curfew and I’m doing rounds. I should really give you detention.” Sirius nearly rolled his eyes. _Oh yeah, Mia, he’s a real charmer…_

“Well, about that…I kind of wanted a chat with you, if that’s okay?” Sirius was nervous. Sirius Black was never nervous.

“This isn’t about Mia, is it?”, Regulus raised a brow. Sirius had to fight to control his temper, trying to keep in mind that Regulus had no idea of just how fond Sirius was of the girl.

“No, it’s not about her, it’s about us.” Both of Regulus’s brows rose this time, he certainly hadn’t been expecting his brother to say that. Sirius was no Slytherin – Regulus had seen the way he sometimes looked at Mia, but it seemed that neither brother had been deemed worthy. Or had he simply not tried? Regulus refused to think on it any further.

“Perhaps, we should take this to somewhere more private”, Regulus suggested, noting the way many of the portraits had been watching the pair’s conversation. Sirius nodded his head quickly and the brothers entered the nearest classroom. Regulus added silencing and locking charms to the room, not wanting to be overheard by anyone, particularly anyone from his own house. He took a deep breath in before turning to face his big brother, who was leaning uncomfortably against one of the desks. Regulus had been waiting for this conversation for a long time and, although Sirius may not have known it at the time, so had he.

 

_September 28 th, 1976._

Nothing appeared to have changed the following morning in the Great Hall. The Black brothers had gotten into another fight – this was no longer considered news in the Hogwarts’ corridors. Regulus had a black eye, while Sirius sported a cut lip. Both had small cuts on their knuckles. Despite their injuries, however, both boys couldn’t help the smiles that formed on their faces as their eyes met across the Hall, before quickly breaking eye contact and returning to their conversations, feeling lighter than they had in a long time.

No one seemed to notice the change in the boys. The rest of the Marauders chose not to ask too many questions, just happy to have their friend back. Hermione noticed, though. Constant vigilance as Moody would say. She didn’t survive a war by being unobservant. She hated to admit it, but she was dying to find out what had happened between the brothers. She was happy for them, but Sirius still owed her an apology and she still saw no hope for her and Regulus. The earrings were beautiful, but it would take more than gifts and sweet nothings to win over Hermione Granger.

At least, she hoped that was still the case. He did look devilishly handsome with that black eye, the perfect badboy.


	11. Secrets and Promises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took a while to get out, it's more of a filler chapter than anything but there are important elements in it for future chapters. I hope you guys enjoy it, let me know what you think.

_September 28th, 1976._

She answered James and Remus’s intermittent questions about the essay, which she had completed nearly two weeks previously, while trying to get through a particularly complicated passage about wand movements and the effect they could have on the Fiendfyre. Hermione was so wrapped up in her book that she didn’t notice Sirius’s arrival, although James and Remus did, sharing a look of wariness while glancing from Hermione to Sirius. Sirius cleared his throat, attempting to get Hermione’s attention.

Her eyes raised slowly, having already realised who had invaded their study space. “Come to warn me off James and Remus as well, Sirius? Is there no one I’m safe with?”, she said mockingly. She couldn’t help sounding a little bitchy, Sirius had left it nearly ten days to sort himself out and apologise to her.

“I deserve that”, he said, surprisingly not taking the bait. “Can I speak to you in private?”

Hermione merely nodded, telling the boys she’d be back to help them later. She made her way out of the Common Room, Sirius following behind her. They would speak, but it would be on her terms. She refused to allow him to see her as vulnerable again. Little did he know, she had forgiven him long ago. She still deserved an apology though, and she was dying to find out what had gone down between the Black brothers.

Eventually she led him into an empty classroom on the seventh floor, sure that nobody would be around at this hour. It was too early for the Prefects’ rounds and too late for any classes. Leaning against the Professor’s desk, Hermione crossed her arms and looked at Sirius expectantly. She couldn’t help but feel a little bit pleased with the situation, the Sirius from her time would never have allowed her to be so in control.

“Right. So, first of all I’m a git and I know that. I’m sorry, I really am. I pretended like I knew everything about you that night and I was obviously wrong. I know you can look after yourself, Mia, but you can’t blame a bloke for worrying”, he told her. She was surprised by the honesty in his tone. Mary would definitely be surprised when she heard about his heartfelt apology. Hermione didn’t know when this need to confide in female friends had developed, but she couldn’t bring herself to be unhappy about it. It was nice to be one of the girls for once.

“I know your heart was in the right place, Sirius. I appreciate you, and all the boys, looking out for me. It’s more than I expected when I arrived here out of nowhere, knowing nobody. You’ve been great friends.” Sirius looked as if he were about to say something in response, but she held up her hand to silence him. She had yet to make her point. “However, if it had been any other guy that I had kissed, you wouldn’t have been nearly as bothered.”

He was sure he would have been bothered by anyone kissing her, but she had a point. It wasn't his place either way. “I wouldn’t have been too happy if it were Snivellus either, love”, he joked, easing some of the tension from the situation. Hermione rolled her eyes good-naturedly but continued.

“Your issues with you brother have clouded your mind. He’s not evil, Sirius. I think you know that. I think you’ve always known that. You may have been right that me and him would never end well and I would probably end up hurt, but that’s not your decision to make. I am my own person and I am allowed to make my own mistakes. Whether they be with Regulus or Snape or, Godric forbid, Peter”, she grimaced. Sirius smiled, meeting her eyes. Soon the pair were in hysterics imagining Hermione and Peter ever getting together.

“You really don’t like Peter, do you?”, he asked after they had pulled themselves together.

Hermione frowned, she knew she had not made much effort with Peter since arriving in Hogwarts. It was difficult to be nice to the man who had caused the death of her best friend’s parents – two of her best friends in this time – and loyally served Voldemort.  A man who had betrayed the boy in front of her now, sending him to Azkaban for years. A man who had dragged Harry and Ron into the cellar of Malfoy Manor while she herself had been tortured by Bellatrix. It was difficult. However, she couldn’t ignore the whisper in the back of her mind that told her that if she was going to change the future, she needed to change Peter’s future as well. Sirius noted the way her forehead furrowed in concentration. He felt as if there was more to the story with Peter than Mia was letting on.

“I don’t want to talk about Peter right now, Sirius”, she said defensively. Sirius had the tact to sense that this was a touchy subject and didn’t push the matter any further.

“Anyway, I know you’re your own person, Mia. I’m sorry for not respecting that.” She nodded her appreciation, but Sirius didn’t appear to be offering any more information.

“What happened to your lip?”, she prodded, annoyed that she had to force the information out of him.

“Notice that, did you?”, he smirked. He was purposefully trying to annoy her, she realised. Sirius knew that Mia would be dying to find out what happened between him and his brother, but where was the fun in just telling her?

“Sirius”, Hermione chastised, looking him dead in the eye.

Deciding that Mia was definitely not in the mood to be teased so soon after they had made up, Sirius acquiesced. His brow furrowed in concentration as he tried to pick apart his conversation with his brother. “The lip is nothing. We were both angry with each other for obvious reasons and once we both landed a good hit, the anger started to fall away. We talked…about everything. It was hard, and he told me things that I think I’ve known for a while, but I didn’t want to acknowledge.” Hermione nodded her head in support, she had never seen Sirius so vulnerable. “It was like if I didn’t acknowledge them, they wouldn’t be real, you know?”

Hermione could certainly relate to that, it was how she coped on a daily basis. If every morning, when she woke up, she was to acknowledge everything that had happened to her in the past year, she would never get out of bed. “I get that, Sirius. I think a lot of people do that, it’s how we get by. The people that don’t need to do that are the lucky ones, the ones who’ve never truly experienced pain and grief.”

Sirius nodded, sending a small smile in her direction. He was dying to ask her what she pushed to the back of her mind, but he knew Mia was not a sharer and he didn’t want to upset the equilibrium they had only just found. He had a feeling that Mia had experienced more than just the loss of her mother, but it was none of his business. He hoped that someday it would be his business, whether as a close friend or something more. Not that he would admit that to anyone other than himself, however.

“He’s struggling. Reggie, I mean. He knows where he’s heading but he doesn’t want it, I know he doesn’t. Yeah, he has a few prejudices that I’d prefer him without, but he’s not one of them. He’s no Death Eater, Mia. You were right.”

Hermione could sense that this conversation had never happened in the original timeline. Sirius had never listened to Regulus's fears and Regulus continued down a dark path until he eventually pulled himself out of it, dying in the process. She wondered if he had ever been a true believer in Voldemort's ideals the first time around or if he had just been a scared teenager who was never offered a way out. “We can help him, Sirius. His future doesn’t have to be dictated by the path that has been laid out for him, things can be changed”, she said comfortingly.

“How though? My parents are watching him like a hawk and apparently You-Know-Who has already got his sights set on the family. I’m almost of age, but it’s common knowledge that I’ve been burned off the family tree. You-Know-Who will want Reggie to take my place.” There was so much guilt and pain in Sirius’s eyes that Hermione pulled him into her, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding him tight. It took him a second, but he soon returned her embrace, holding onto her like a lifeline. He was scared and Hermione's heart broke. She had never seen the Sirius of her time scared - angry, insane and drunk, yes, but never scared.

“It’ll be okay, Sirius. I’ll talk to Dumbledore, we’ll see what we can do.” She pretended she didn’t notice that the shoulder of her uniform shirt was growing slightly damp with Sirius’s tears, choosing to rub soothing circles into his back instead.

“My birthday is less than two months away, Mia. We don’t have much time”, he said weakly.

She gasped, pulling away from him to meet his eyes. “Voldemort wouldn’t mark a fifteen-year-old, would he?” She ignored the hiss that escaped Sirius at the mention of Voldemort’s name, Hermione was more than over the stigma attached to it. “He still has the trace, he wouldn’t be able to do anything really, would he?”, she questioned.

“I don’t know, but I wouldn’t put it past him. He might mark him early as punishment for me abandoning my duties as the Heir to the Black family.” His tone didn’t betray his emotions, however the look on Sirius’s face told Hermione all she needed to know. She knew Sirius would take his brother’s place if he could, but Sirius would never last. Even if he were to be accepted back into the folds, no one would trust the Gryffindor. While Regulus’s chances of survival within the Death Eaters’ ranks were slim, Sirius’s were non-existent.

“Don’t worry, Sirius, I’ll go to Dumbledore this evening. I’m sure he’ll be able to do something”, she soothed. Hermione couldn’t ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach, she had a fairly good idea of the “help” that Dumbledore would offer.

“What would I do without you, Mia?”, he grinned, pulling her into another hug. Hermione couldn't bring herself to return his smile. It wouldn't be as simple as Dumbledore just agreeing to protect Regulus. She hated bursting his bubble, but the longer she left it, the more his hope would grow.

“Sirius, you have to be prepared for the fact that Dumbledore’s help may still involve Regulus joining the Death Eaters.” The smile quickly faded from Sirius’s face, transforming to confusion.

"How is that helping him? The whole point of us making up was to stop my brother from becoming one of them, to change the way he thinks. No. Just no. I won't let him ruin his life", he argued.

“I know this is hard, Sirius. I think it’ll depend on how deep he’s already in, how much your parents have promised Voldemort.” Hermione was pleasantly surprised that Sirius didn’t flinch this time, but she supposed he had more important things on his mind. “If we do it Dumbledore’s way, if I am correct in assuming this is what he will suggest, then Regulus would become a spy for the Order”, she explained. Hermione was unsure if she should be mentioning the Order to Sirius, but at this point there was little sense in hiding its existence, she knew where his loyalties lay.

“The Order?”, he questioned. Judging by how strict Dumbledore had been when it came to Hermione’s membership of the Order, she was unsurprised to learn that other 6th Year students were unaware of its existence. She knew that Dumbledore had recruited former students in this time, but that probably wasn’t until the end of their 7th Year. Hermione made a mental note to subtly probe Fabian next time they met up to see if he knew anything.

“The Order of the Phoenix. It’s a secret organisation led by Dumbledore to fight Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Only those who are out of school already can join, but I feel like an exception will be made for Regulus if he joins the Death Eaters before graduation”, she told him, seeing the cogs turning in his head.

“If it’s secret…and you can only join after you graduate…then how in Godric’s name do you know about it?”, he challenged.

“I’m an exception, Sirius. I am Dumbledore’s niece after all. I’m not even allowed properly join until after school, just attend meetings during holidays. I haven’t even been to one yet”, she said. Sirius looked sceptical but seemed to take her word for it. Hermione certainly wasn’t about to enlighten him about her horcrux mission and Fiendfyre lessons – he wasn’t a member of the Order yet, and even the real members weren’t being told until Dumbledore deemed it necessary. “Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself, we don’t even know if that’s what’s going to happen. I shouldn’t have told you that, Dumbledore would kill me if he found out. Please, please, please don’t say it to anyone else, not even Regulus, not until we know what’s going on”, she pleaded.

Sirius looked somewhat torn, he didn’t keep secrets from his best mates, but it seemed he would have to for Mia’s sake. After all, this was a pretty big secret. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.” The relieved look on Hermione’s face didn’t last long as he continued, “But if Regulus joins the Order, then so do I.”


	12. Small Victories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I haven't updated in so long, I'm so sorry. I had a small bit of writer's block, but I really like the way this chapter worked out in the end. The story has nearly 2000 views and over 100 Kudos and I'm so so delighted. All of the views, comments and kudos mean so much to me and I appreciate every single one of them. Hope you enjoy the chapter x

_September 29 th, 1976._

Professor Dumbledore hadn’t been in his office when Hermione had gone to see him after her conversation with Sirius. In hindsight, that was probably for the best; Hermione needed to think about what Sirius had said. It had been a sleepless night for her in Gryffindor tower, her mind couldn’t stop dissecting the situation. The cogs were still turning the following morning. Looking into the bathroom mirror, she realised she looked like shit, but there wasn’t much she could do about that. A quick shower and a messy plait would have to do her for the day.

Was Voldemort really evil enough to mark a 15-year-old? Of course, he was, but Hermione couldn’t bring herself to believe it. She doubted Dumbledore would allow Sirius to join the Order, but he had a way of making people think they had gotten their way, when in reality they were just pawns in Dumbledore’s plans. There was a pit of guilt forming in her stomach as she realised that she was signing Regulus up to be one of those pawns. It was Regulus’s curse, she realised – he couldn’t escape his fate with the Death Eaters without being murdered and the only other option was to risk his life as a double agent. Her head was spinning, there were so many variables in the whole thing. Would Regulus even want to join the Order? Would Sirius tell the other Marauders what was going on?

Walking into the Great Hall, Hermione fixed her eyes on the floor. She couldn’t bring herself to look towards the Slytherin Table – although she and Regulus had ended before they had begun, her heart was still breaking at the situation that faced him – and she wanted to avoid Sirius’s questioning gaze until she had at least gotten a cup of coffee into her. Lack of sleep was not a good look for her.

The raucous coming from the Gryffindor Table surprised her as she sat down. Sirius must have already let the rest of the group know that he and Mia were back on speaking terms as James welcomed her with a wink and Remus wrapped an arm around her shoulder, giving it a squeeze.

“I’m glad things are alright between you and Sirius, Mia”, came a nervous voice from the edge of the group. Hermione was going to ignore him, but she was reminded of Sirius’s words. _“You really don’t like Peter, do you?”_ It must have seemed strange to the others how cold she was with him. After all he had never done anything to her…as far as they knew. She could make an effort, maybe it might change things. There was no guarantee, but her mother had always told her that it costs nothing to be nice and the Peter of 1976 had never done anything to her or her friends.

“Yeah, me too, Peter”, she smiled weakly. It wasn’t much, but it seemed to be enough. Peter beamed at her before returning to his breakfast. She could see a small smile forming on Sirius’s face. _Great_ , she thought, _now he’s going to think I care about what he thinks of me…_ She ignored the voice in her head that told her of course she cared what he thought of her, she cared what they all thought. In less than a month, Hermione had found herself thoroughly attached to her new friends in 1976 and she wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

Everyone was laughing and joking, and Hermione did her best to join in, but she had more important things on her mind than whether or not the boys could turn the Slytherins’ hair red before their match against Gryffindor. While it may have seemed that Sirius was back to his normal self, Hermione could see that he was distracted. She needed to speak to Dumbledore and she needed to do it soon.

 

_October 2 nd, 1976._

“Yes, that’s it, Miss Granger”, Dumbledore praised. “Now…just arc the wand around, yes and now straight down.”

The sweat was pouring down Hermione’s forehead as she carried out the movements necessary to end the Fiendfyre coming from the tip of her wand. This was the furthest she had ever gotten in the process, but it was taking its toll on her. The pressure she felt was indescribable, as if the weight of the world was pushing down on her shoulders as she fought to stay standing. She couldn’t believe her eyes as the fire disappeared at her final wand movement. She had done it. Finally. The bone-crushing tiredness quickly replaced her shock and Professor Dumbledore caught her before she fell.

“Sir, I did it, I actually did it! Can you believe it?”

Dumbledore smiled down at her fondly, “Of course, I can believe it, Miss Granger. You are an extremely competent witch, never doubt that. It won’t be long until you have fully mastered the spell.”

Hermione’s brows furrowed in confusion at his words. Had she not just mastered it? “Sir, I am able to destroy horcruxes now, aren’t I?”

Dumbledore chuckled, “I mean no offence, my dear, but you are a long way from being able to destroy horcruxes yet. We have completed the first stage of training, yes, but simply being able to cast and extinguish the fire is not enough to master it. In order to destroy a specific object with Fiendfyre, without destroying everything else in its path, one must have complete control over the spell, particularly in the case of something going wrong. There are variables in every situation, Hermione, but I would prefer if you were not one when it finally comes to obtaining and destroying Voldemort’s horcruxes.”

“I understand, Sir”, Hermione said, nodding at his words. It made complete sense, of course she couldn’t go about destroying horcruxes now, she had just barely succeeded in extinguishing the fire and she couldn’t risk killing herself or others if something were to go wrong. No, she still had much to do, but that was alright. There was a reason she had come back to 1976 and not 1980, she had known she would need time to carry out her plans.

“Don’t let that take away from your accomplishment this evening, Miss Granger. Few wizards have been able to achieve what you have in two attempts. You truly are remarkable”, he told her, eyes twinkling. “I do believe a cup of tea is in order. Perhaps a few biscuits, as well. After all, it is the weekend”, he winked. He held out his arm to her and the pair apparated back to the school gates. It wasn’t until they were both sipping their tea that the silence was broken again.

“Now, tell me what has been on your mind this week. You’ve seemed distracted”, Dumbledore said, raising a single brow as he met her gaze. Hermione averted her gaze towards her teacup in contemplation. He always knew when something was up, even if nothing had been said.

“Well, I assume you know of the Black brothers, Sir”, she began. If Dumbledore was surprised that the Blacks were the topic of discussion, he didn’t show it.

“I doubt there is a soul in Wizarding Britain that does not know of the Black family, my dear. I’ve noticed that you and Sirius have become quick friends this year…Regulus is a slightly more complicated situation, naturally”, he said knowingly. Hermione blushed a deep red at the underlying insinuation in his words.

“Ehhh yes, I have gotten to know them both this year”, she admitted awkwardly. She couldn’t even imagine having such a conversation with the Professor Dumbledore of her time, but in 1976 it felt as if her grandfather was prying into her love life – she wasn’t sure which option was worse. “Sirius came to me with some troubling information during the week, Professor. The Blacks pledged their eldest son to Voldemort when he first began gaining power but after Sirius was disowned, he assumed Voldemort wouldn’t have any interest in him. And he was right, it seems that Regulus is to be recruited by the Death Eaters in place of Sirius”, she explained as calmly as she could.

“Yes, I assumed as much. Young Regulus won’t be turning 17 for another year and a half, however.”

“Well, that’s the thing, Sir. Regulus told Sirius that he thinks they’ll mark him on Sirius’s 17th birthday as something of a punishment for Sirius’s actions. That’s why Sirius came to me, he’s worried about his brother. He says that Regulus wants no part in the Death Eaters and I have to agree with him, Professor. I’ve met many Death Eaters in my time and Regulus…well, he’s not like them. I know he isn’t.”

Dumbledore stood, leaving his tea forgotten on its saucer. He began to pace around the room, deep in thought. “Oh, I believe you, Hermione. While the Black brothers may not see eye-to-eye on everything, they aren’t as different as they would like to think. Regulus doesn’t have a lot of his own ideas about the world, but he is not to blame for that. He is learning and growing, just as Sirius did”, Dumbledore mused, turning to look at her from his spot near Fawkes’ stand.

“So, you’ll help him, Professor?”, she asked hopefully. Hermione didn’t think she needed to explain what she meant by “help”, Dumbledore was as anti-Death Eater as she was.

“I shall endeavour to do my best, however if Voldemort has his sights set on Mr. Black, I fear there is only so much I can do for him.” Hermione knew he was leading her to the idea of Regulus becoming a double-agent, the wizard had no idea of just how much Hermione knew about him.

“He can work for the Order. If there is no way for him to avoid the Death Eaters entirely, then at least he can do it for the right reasons.”

“I can't say the thought hadn't crossed my mind, however, that would be infinitely more dangerous for him, Miss Granger. He would risk being caught at every turn and if he were to be caught, it would mean certain death”, Dumbledore warned.

“Professor, I know what is to happen if we just let Regulus continue on the path he is currently on. The original path is the only one in which death is certain, at least this way he has a chance”, she reasoned. Dumbledore nodded, understanding that there were things about the future that he could not know. Hermione had told Dumbledore the essential information regarding the horcruxes and she had vowed to warn him of imminent attacks she knew of in the future, but were she to divulge too much information, he could go about changing the timeline himself and reversing any of the work Hermione had done. It was simply too dangerous, and he understood that.

“If Mr. Black is to be marked in November and he agrees to help the Order, then I will do my best to save his life. He will need to learn how to defend himself properly. I trust that you are able to assist him with that?”, Dumbledore asked, his eyes looking far too mischievous for the situation at hand. _Always meddling_ , she thought. “It would be suspicious if he were to be meeting me regularly. Once he is marked, his fellow Slytherins will be keeping an even closer eye on him than they are already – oh yes, Miss Granger, I am well aware of what some of my students are up to”, he added in response to her look of surprise. “I would advise you to be careful around the likes of Dolohov and Lestrange, but I’m sure you knew that already.”

“Yes, Professor. Let’s just say I’ve had some…personal experiences with Dolohov in my own time”, she shuddered, thinking of the ugly scar marring her chest.

“I’m sorry to hear that. If you do ever need to talk about your past…”

“I know, Sir. Thank you.” Her smile didn’t meet her eyes even if she did appreciate the sentiment. Dumbledore seemed to understand, however, as he moved on quickly. There were some things that Hermione wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to talk about.

“Regulus will relay his information to you rather than to myself and if there is anything I wish him to pass on, it will also go through you. A forbidden tryst is much easier to explain away than private meetings with the Headmaster. However, I doubt there will be much to tell while he is still in school, he will have to gain the trust of both Voldemort and his fellow Death Eaters before he is privy to information of any true value. Still...he needs contact with someone from the Light if only to stop him from losing himself entirely”, Dumbledore trailed off sadly.

“Thank you, Professor. Both Sirius and I are so grateful for your help. I’m sure Regulus will be as well once he knows. But, there is one other thing, Sir”, she said unsurely. She really didn’t think he would take Sirius’s request well.

“Go on…”, he said, seemingly amused. He sat back down in his chair, relaxed after working through the major issue of the evening. Hermione could never understand how Dumbledore always managed to seem so unaffected at having the weight of Wizarding Britain on his shoulders; sitting there with his hands clasped over his stomach, legs crossed at the ankle, totally at ease.

“Sirius wants to join the Order as well. He says if Regulus is going to be involved in all of this, then so is he”, she explained, searching his face for a reaction that she never found. Dumbledore flicked his wand, pouring them both another cup of tea, the pot charmed to stay warm the whole time. After a minute, he chuckled, taking Hermione completely by surprise.

“Of course, he did. Sirius is nothing if not predictable, a true Gryffindor. Well, what can we do about his request?”, he asked, a smile still firmly planted on his face. This man was full of surprises and Hermione knew that she would never truly understand him, no matter how many years they knew each other.

“You’re asking me? You can’t possibly be considering letting him join, Sir. He’s not even of age”, she challenged.

“Of course not, Miss Granger. However, I am assuming that you told Mr. Black of your own involvement with the Order, obviously excluding the sordid horcrux and time-travel details”, he winked. Not waiting for a reply, he continued, “I can understand his request and considering that Regulus’s own involvement will be insignificant for the foreseeable future, I feel we can appease Sirius by allowing him to attend the meetings on the holidays, as you will, without letting him see any real action until after his graduation. How does that sound?”

“Okay, I can work with that. It will definitely calm Sirius down about his brother, make him feel like he’s doing something to help him”, she agreed. Hermione was grateful that Dumbledore was allowing her this much, but she hoped to Godric that he would keep him out of the action until he had left Hogwarts, no matter how much Sirius wanted to run straight to the frontline. “Thank you, Professor.”

“You’re welcome, Miss Granger. If we are to make the future a better place, we must start with the individual and build from there. Knowing that we are changing the Black brothers’ futures for the better will allow me to rest easy tonight. It is not an easy road that lies ahead of you, Miss Granger, allow yourself the small victories. Go back to your Common Room and get some rest. Good night.”

“Good night, Sir, and thank you again”, she said before leaving the Headmaster’s office. His advice was sound. She didn’t know what the future would now hold for Sirius and Regulus and their relationship, but she knew that it had to be better than the original timeline where they both died not knowing how much they loved each other.

She saw Sirius asleep by the fire when she entered the Gryffindor Common Room. She had told him that she would finally be meeting Dumbledore that evening and he had evidently tried to wait up for her, unaware of the unorthodox length of their "meetings". It was almost three in the morning, so she couldn’t blame him for passing out. His soft snores were the only noise aside from the crackling of the fire as it was dying out. Hermione almost felt bad for having to wake him up, but she knew he would want to know straight away.

“Sirius”, she said, shaking his shoulder gently. It took a few attempts before he eventually opened one eye, looking up at her groggily. When he realised who it was daring to wake him up, he jolted awake quickly, looking half-mad as he sat up straight, his hair a mess and eyes wide.

“Well, what did he say? Will he help him?”, he asked with such hope that Hermione wanted to cry. She merely nodded, vowing to tell him the full story in the morning. For now, Sirius would be able to go to bed with the knowledge that all hope was not lost for his little brother. Tomorrow, they could work out the finer details of what that meant exactly. Sirius’s eyes filled with tears of relief and he stood, pulling Hermione into his chest, enveloping her in a bone-crushing hug. Happiness spread through her as she realised how much she had changed things for Sirius in that moment. He would get his brother back.

 _“Allow yourself the small victories”_ echoed in her mind as she bid Sirius goodnight, heading up to her dormitory. A smile spread across her face, she would certainly allow herself this victory.


	13. The Rumour Mill

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I'm the worst for updates, I'm so sorry. I was in Prague last week and I just haven't gotten around to writing since. I am hoping to write another chapter before this Thursday because I'm off to Germany and Spain in the next couple of weeks and I won't be able to write for a while. This chapter is more Fabian/Hermione which I enjoy but I still don't know if they're endgame if you get me. Honestly, nothing in this story is set in stone, ideas are constantly changing. A few people have said that Hermione shouldn't be spending her time on boys and school back in this era but I disagree. She's gone back in time to save the future but she's also given up her own life and she's entitled to start a new one. She also missed out on a normal school experience the first time around and while this one is still far from normal, it's still a second chance at it. It's another five years before Voldemort kills Lily and James so I think she has more than enough time to both destroy Voldemort and have her own life. Plus, in order to save a lot of lives, she has to become part of the characters' lives. And anyway, the story would be boring if it was just horcruxes 24/7. I hope you enjoy this chapter, it is a bit filler-ish but not really because it's development. Anyway, enjoy x

_October 10 th, 1976._

It had been over a week since Dumbledore had agreed to help Regulus and Hermione had to admit that Regulus looked the better for it. She hadn’t even realised how stressed he had been about his future but seeing him now – healthier, happier – it had obviously been taking its toll on him. The change wasn’t obvious to everyone, but Hermione and Sirius had agreed that things were looking up for him. Sirius hadn’t stopped expressing his eternal gratefulness since she had told him about her conversation with Dumbledore. Lily had commented, a bit suspiciously in Hermione’s opinion, that their friendship seemed to have be closer than ever after their fight. She was sure that Lily was under the impression that Sirius and Hermione had come to be more than friends, but Hermione hadn’t bothered to correct her yet. Until Lily asked her directly, Hermione would allow the redhead’s thoughts to wander. It was more entertaining that way – both Sirius and Hermione had noticed her staring at them from time to time. Even if she would never admit it herself, Lily Evans loved a good piece of gossip as much as the next person. Who was Hermione to deny her such entertainment?

An elbow to the side dragged her out of her reverie. “Ouch, bloody hell Mary! What was that for?”, Hermione asked the girl to her right, looking at the rest of her friends who were already staring at her, grins on their faces.

“Well, Remus just asked you for the fourth time if you were going to Slughorn’s Halloween party or not, so I figured the poor boy deserved a response”, she smirked. Hermione looked over at Remus, slightly embarrassed. They were all sitting in the chairs around the fire in the Gryffindor Common Room, relaxing for the evening, but it seemed that Hermione had been a little too relaxed. Remus was looking slightly haggard; the full moon had been two nights previous and he had only come back to classes this morning. The fresh scars on his face were subtle but there. Hermione had noticed them immediately but then again, she had been keeping track of when the full moons were coming so she had been expecting new scars. She had no idea how Lily, Alice and Mary had never figured out his secret in all their years as friends. The boys weren’t exactly subtle about their “furry little problem” comments and Remus always looked sickly around the time of the moon, missing a full day of classes and meals every single month.

“Oh, sorry. I guess I was a little lost in my own world”, she blushed. “I suppose I will go, be a bit rude to turn down the invitation after all. Anyway, how bad can it be?”, she asked.

“Oh, Mia. Sweet, innocent, naïve Mia. You have no idea just how bad those parties can be. Slughorn will parade you as his shiny new toy for a while and then you’ll be left to make awkward small talk with the likes of Remus and Lily here. Can you imagine anything worse?”, Sirius joked, dodging the hand that Lily had sent in the direction his head.

“Have you ever actually been invited to one, Padfoot?”, Remus smirked.

“You wound me, Moony. And yes, actually, Slughorn did hand me an invitation once. Took him about five seconds to realise that I was actually the disowned brother rather than the Black brother that was still on the wall at home and he took the invitation back fairly quickly”, he quipped. A few weeks ago, that comment would have come from a place of resentment but now, Hermione could tell that Sirius felt no ill will towards his little brother.

“Stop blaming everything on you being a shit son, Pads. Maybe he took it back because you smell like a wet dog”, James added. Hermione couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her at his joke even though it really wasn’t all that funny. Those boys were not subtle at all. James shot her a funny look but didn’t question her. After all, how on earth could she know their secret?

Lily rolled her eyes as Sirius jumped on James and was now attempting to shove his armpit under his nose in an attempt to show him that he smelled like much worse than a wet dog. Choosing to ignore the boys, Lily turned to Hermione. “The parties can either be tolerable or pretty horrific, but Slughorn means well and it’s nice to be invited I suppose. Bringing a date can help”, Lily offered.

Hermione knew exactly how bad one of Slughorn’s parties could be, shuddering at the memory of her “date” with Cormac McClaggen in her first Sixth Year, but she couldn’t let the others know just how unenthusiastic she was for the Halloween party. Slughorn had practically begged her to attend, proclaiming that she would be the first Dumbledore to attend one of his parties as the Headmaster had always had other matters to attend to in the past. Hermione had smirked at that, she was sure that Dumbledore’s “other matters” amounted to attempting new knitting patterns and refilling the bowl of sweets in his office.

“Are you bringing anyone?”, she asked Lily and Remus.

“We have a bit of a pact that we’ll go to all the parties together unless we’re interested in someone else at the time”, Remus explained. He had always been closer to Lily than the other Marauders having bonded over their shared love of learning and their shared annoyance over Sirius and James’s antics. That wasn’t to say that Remus wasn’t a contributor to said antics, playing a key role in them more often than not, but Lily seemed to turn a blind eye to Remus’s participation most of the time.

“It’s actually Lily’s way of hiding her undying love for -mmhmhhmm.” James had been cut off by Remus’s hand covering his mouth and he glared indignantly at his friend.

“Are you going to ask someone?”, Remus asked as if James had never said anything.

“Godric, I wouldn’t even know who to ask. No, I think I’m going stag for this one”, she told them, pretending she didn’t see James look up at the word stag. It was fun to watch him squirm a little.

“Well, I’m available”, Sirius threw in.

“Me too”, added Peter quietly. He had grown a little braver now that Hermione’s animosity towards him had lessened.

“I think you’ll find that I’m the obvious choice here”, James concluded, throwing smirks at his friends.

“Actually boys”, Alice interrupted, surprising everyone. Alice was great, but she was usually more of a listener than an active participant when it wasn’t just her and the girls. “Word on the street is that a certain Head Boy was thinking of asking Mia, so I don’t think she’ll be asking any of you.”

“Fabian?”, Hermione asked, surprised. After their flying lesson on her birthday, he had continued walking her to class on occasion and they chatted regularly, but Fabian hadn’t tried to ask her on another date or anything. She had assumed that he had lost interest but if Alice’s facts were right, it seemed he hadn’t. Hermione wasn’t sure how she felt about that. She had been so caught up in helping Regulus and Sirius that Fabian had been pushed to the back of her mind. A feeling of annoyance seemed to swell up inside her – she had pushed aside her one escape from dealing with the impending future. Fabian allowed her to forget everything going on around her and she had pretty much forgotten about him. If he didn’t ask her to Slughorn’s party, then she would ask him. He was good for her and it wasn’t like she was stealing him from any future wife or anything, Fabian’s only chance of survival was her. But for once, this wasn’t about changing the future. This wasn’t about Hermione saving Fabian, but maybe, just maybe, it was about Fabian saving Hermione.

The rest of the group had realised that Hermione was lost in her thoughts again and changed topics, leaving the girl in peace.

 

_October 13 th, 1976._

“…and I’ve been wary of Polyjuice Potion ever since”, Hermione finished, laughing at herself. Fabian’s brows had risen into his hairline by the end of her story and Hermione was barely able to contain herself at his reaction.

“A cat? Really?”, he asked incredulously.

She nodded, tears rolling down her cheeks at this point. “I spent three days in the Hospital Wing. Madame Pom-…Partridge was clueless about how to fix me at first. Had never seen anything like it.” Hermione struggled to recover from her slip-up, almost using the name of her former matron which would have been difficult to explain considering she was also the current matron of the Hogwarts’ Hospital Wing. She didn’t think Fabian had noticed but she couldn’t allow herself to get so careless.

The pair had reached McGonagall’s Transfiguration classroom where Hermione was set to have a double class that afternoon. Hermione stopped before going into the room, looking up at Fabian. In some ways he reminded her of Ron – the height, the hair, the smile – but he was so different at the same time. He had characteristics that she saw in all of the Weasley children: Bill’s intelligence, Charlie’s chivalry, Percy’s diligence, Fred and George’s humour, Ron’s kindness and Ginny’s wild streak. She had yet to find something about him that she didn’t like. Since she had decided to give Fabian the chance he deserved a few days ago, she had been finding more and more excuses to be around him. He’d walked her to nearly all of her classes that week and she was sure she had made him late to his own on more than one occasion, but he didn’t seem to care.

“You’re something else, Mia. A Second-Year brewing Polyjuice – it’s unheard of. Absolutely unbelievable”, he grinned, looking into her eyes. He reached his hand forward and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear making her breath catch in the back of her throat. This was the most contact they’d had since riding his broom together. He still hadn’t asked her to Slughorn’s party yet and even though it was still a few weeks away, she was worried that he’d ask someone else or that someone else would ask him. Hermione Granger might’ve waited around to be asked, but Mia Dumbledore certainly wouldn’t.

“Well if I’m so unbelievable…”, she began, building up the courage, “you won’t mind going with me to Slughorn’s party?” She hadn’t meant for it to come out like a question. She had aimed for cool and confident but hadn’t really pulled it off. It didn’t seem to matter too much to Fabian though as a huge grin appeared on his face.

“Most girls wouldn’t dream of asking a guy out, you know?”, he smirked. Hermione rolled her eyes, there was a cockiness to Fabian that she loved to hate.

“It’s the 70’s, Prewett. Get with the times”, she winked, turning around and walking into the classroom without looking back. Fabian stood in shock behind her, he had never met a girl quite like Mia Dumbledore. She hadn't even waited for him to say yes, it was like she just knew he would go with her. It was like she was from another universe. _Must be an American thing_ , he thought. Whether it was an American thing or not, he wasn’t complaining. He was going to be Mia’s date to Slughorn’s party and he wanted to proclaim it to the world.

Hermione took her seat in between Lily and Mary in the Transfiguration classroom, with Alice on the other side of Lily. Hermione was unable to hold back the smile spreading from ear to ear. The girls took notice very quickly and immediately turned towards their friend.

“Did Fabian ask you to the party?”, Mary asked without hesitation. She may not have been invited to the party, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t fully invested in the gossip surrounding it.

“Nope”, Hermione answered vaguely, leaning back in her chair and looking between her two friends, smirk growing. “I asked him.” Lily and Mary’s eyes widened immediately and they both squealed, asking Hermione a million more question. Alice just grinned smugly. She had never heard any rumours that Fabian was going to ask her to the party, but she knew that once the idea had been planted in Mia’s head, she wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about it. Things had worked out exactly as she’d wanted them to. She was sure that Fabian would have asked her eventually, but there was no point in leaving things to chance.

The Marauders sat in the row behind the girls straining to hear what they were whispering about. Peter heard Fabian’s name being mentioned and the boys surmised that Mia now had a date to the party.

“Girls”, James said, rolling his eyes at their gossip. “Am I right, Pads?”, he asked looking to his best friend.

“What? Oh yeah, yeah dead right, Prongs”, Sirius replied distractedly. Sirius had always been fond of his Quidditch teammate but on that day, his feelings towards Fabian were less than friendly. Professor McGonagall walked into the classroom, shaking him out of his thoughts. He paid an unusual amount of attention to the class that day in an attempt to keep his mind off other brown-haired things. It didn't work.


	14. Chapter 14

** Chapter 14: Should’ve, Would’ve, Could’ve **

_October 23 rd, 1976._

The first Gryffindor Quidditch match of the year had arrived, and the Great Hall was buzzing with excitement at breakfast that morning. The game was to be against Ravenclaw; a formidable opponent, but one that the Gryffindor team should easily overcome. For Hermione, it was a welcome distraction from all the talk surrounding Slughorn’s party which would be held on the following Saturday. Halloween wasn’t actually until the day after the party, but Slughorn couldn’t very well host a party on a school night. As well as that, Dumbledore was hosting the traditional Halloween feast that night and it would be unthinkable for Slughorn to clash with the Headmaster.

Hermione had been enjoying the time she was spending with Fabian ever since asking him to the party. He had been sweet, even taking her out flying again. However, she hadn’t been enjoying the constant questioning she was receiving from Lily and the other girls. _“Has he kissed you yet?” – “Did you tell him what colour your dress is for the party so that he can match?” – “Do you think he’ll ask you to be his girlfriend soon?”_ The answer to all of those questions, she had told them, was no. She didn’t even know what dress she’d be wearing yet, and she had told Fabian that she wanted to take things slowly. Fabian being Fabian, he had been respectful of that – almost too respectful, a part of Mia was dying for him to just kiss her.

However, the party wasn’t the only thing that had been occupying her thoughts. In her meeting with Dumbledore the previous evening, he had questioned her about her training with Regulus. She was embarrassed to admit that it hadn’t started yet. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to help him, of course she did, but they hadn’t been alone together since their kiss and she wasn’t sure what it would be like with him now. Would things be awkward?  Or would they act as if nothing had ever happened? She wasn’t sure which option was worse. It had been easier to be around him when Sirius had been there as well, but she couldn’t very well use Sirius as a crutch forever. After being thoroughly admonished by the Headmaster for not taking her duties seriously, Hermione promised she would begin the training that weekend, she just needed to let Regulus know. She had yet to see him that morning, but she knew he’d be at the Quidditch match later.

The Gryffindor table was as boisterous as it always had been on the day of a game and it brought back a lot of memories for Hermione. Although she had never been the biggest fan of Quidditch, she had been her friends’ biggest supporter and she couldn’t help but feel a little sad seeing Emmeline Vance in the position of Seeker rather than Harry, and Fabian as Keeper rather than Ron. “What do you think, Mia?”, Sirius asked, showing off his Beater’s uniform as he sat down opposite her, already shovelling eggs and bacon onto his plate.

“You look beautiful, Sirius”, she said teasingly.

“Not as beautiful as I do”, James added, receiving a kick from Sirius under the table.

“I think that particular title belongs to me, boys”, Fabian interjected, arriving at the Gryffindor table and unceremoniously planting a kiss on Hermione’s cheek, causing her cheeks to burn red. Fabian and the rest of the Quidditch team sat down around Sirius and James (and therefore, Hermione), laughing and joking about how they were going to annihilate Ravenclaw. Everyone but James seemed to miss the glare that Sirius threw at Fabian, and the former sent a kick right back at his best friend.

“What was that for?”, Hermione asked Fabian, still blushing at the public display of affection.

Fabian smirked back at her. “Have you never heard of a kiss for good luck, Mia?”

“But surely I should be the one kissing you for good luck then”, Hermione responded without thinking about what she was saying.

“Well, if you insist, I can promise you I won’t object”, Fabian said cheekily. Hermione laughed and slapped his arm lightly. He wasn’t normally this cheeky in front of other people, but it seemed that the excitement for the upcoming game was giving him courage and Hermione had to admit that she quite liked this side of Fabian.

“So, will we say the party starts at 10 tonight?”, Benji said, changing the topic of conversation.

“What party?”, Lily asked. There were more than a few people sitting in between her and Benji but trust the prefect to hear any conversations about potential rule-breaking.

“The celebration party after we win our first match of the year, Lils”, James explained, knowing exactly how much Lily disliked being called Lils by him.

“You haven’t even won yet”, Mia stated, seemingly bursting the team’s bubble a bit.

“O ye of little faith. I expected better from you, Dumbledore”, Sirius chastised.

“Don’t worry, we’ll win, and we’ll have a party **_and_** we won’t be reported by any prefects. Isn’t that right, Lily?” Mary said, looking directly at the redheaded prefect.

Lily scoffed but couldn’t help but smiling, “Oh alright then, I suppose one party can’t hurt. But nobody younger than Fourth Year.”

“Of course not, Evans. We’re not having a party just to babysit”, Sirius smirked.

It seemed that the Gryffindor team’s confidence hadn’t been ill-placed as the game finished in under an hour with Vance catching the snitch in the 49th minute. The score had been 130-40, respectable enough on Ravenclaw’s side considering that Gryffindor was playing with the best team it had had in years. Even Hermione had to admit, that Sirius would have given Fred and George a run for their money as a Beater. James was unsurprisingly an amazing Chaser and he worked well with Mary and Gideon. She was pleasantly surprised at Fabian’s Keeper skills, although she shouldn’t have been. If he was able to get her on a broom without her having a panic attack, he had to have decent skills. Emmeline was a solid seeker but not a patch on Harry in reality. Harry had clearly inherited a natural ability from his father. She was surprised that thinking about Harry didn’t make her sad for once, she wasn’t feeling that familiar gut-wrenching pain. Perhaps it was the fact that James was there, not replacing Harry but rather reminding her of why she was there. She was there to save James, to save Harry, to save everyone.

Leaving the Quidditch Pitch amongst the hoards of people proved slow and Hermione found herself lost in the crowd, unable to see Remus, Peter, Lily or Alice. She saw a head of dark hair ahead and, assuming it was Sirius, called out his name. To her surprise, it wasn’t Sirius that turned his head in her direction, but his brother. Regulus raised a brow in her direction and her cheeks flushed. Remembering that she needed to talk to him, she cocked her head in the direction of the Quidditch Pitch and after seeing his nod of assent, fell backwards in the crowd, slowing her pace until she was at the back and could conspicuously turn back towards the Pitch.

The grounds had emptied by the time she reached the Pitch, everyone on their way back to the castle already. She knew that the players would still be in the changing rooms, but it would be a while before they were finished, and she didn’t need much time with Regulus.

“Can’t stay away from me, can you Dumbledore?”, a voice came from behind her. She whipped around, looking directly into Regulus’s eyes. She knew by the smirk on his face that he was kidding, but she couldn’t help but feel defensive. She was here to help him after all, not for her own benefit.

“Very funny, Black”, she replied coolly. “We’re starting your training tomorrow, there’s not much time left until Sirius’s birthday and even though there’s no way to have you fully prepared, we have to start somewhere.” It all seemed to come out in a rush of half-panic, half-realisation that there was less than two weeks until Sirius’s 17th birthday. Why hadn’t she started sooner? What if Regulus died? In both timelines. If Regulus were to die in this timeline, Hermione would never reach one of her main goals: giving Sirius a better future, one that included his brother.

“I agree about starting tomorrow, but you can relax a bit, Mia.” Regulus seemed to sense her sudden panic and was attempting to calm her down, though it didn’t seem to work.

“Relax? You’re telling me to relax? It’s my job to save your life and I’m just supposed relax? Do you not even care that you might die?”, she asked indignantly.

“Hold on, that’s not what I’m saying, Mia. Give me a chance to explain, please.” Mia felt duly chastised about her little explosion, but she was still unwilling to calm down entirely. Something about being in Regulus’s presence again had her entirely on edge, as if she didn’t know what to expect. Despite that, she nodded her head as if to tell him that he could continue without her going off again. “Thank you”, he acknowledged. “The date has been changed. The Dark Lord doesn’t have time for me around Sirius’s birthday, apparently. He’s a busy man after all.”

“How long do we have?”, Mia asked, almost afraid of the answer. A spark of hope had ignited in her chest that maybe Regulus wouldn’t have to become a Death Eater at all, but she knew that would never happen. Some things are impossible to change, no matter how far back in the past you go.

“Christmas holidays. The night of the 26th he’ll be holding a revel and I’m cordially invited”, he told her derisively.

“What’s a revel?”

“To be honest, Mia, I don’t really know. Apparently, it’s something of a free for all. They mark new initiates and they have some other…guests”, he trailed off.

“What do you mean by guests, Regulus?”, Hermione probed, feeling like she already knew the answer.

“Muggles, Mia.” Regulus looked into her eyes and Hermione could see the blatant fear and disgust in his. She couldn’t help but reach out and touch his arm in comfort. He looked down at her hand, but other than that didn’t show any obvious reaction.

“You know you’re not like them, Regulus. You may have to do things you don’t want to do. No, you will have to do things you definitely don’t want to know. But we know that your actions aren’t you and if you had any kind of choice, you wouldn’t be anywhere near those monsters. This is a war, Regulus, and everyone does horrible things in war. We can’t let it define us.”

“I can’t imagine you doing anything horrible, Mia.” Hermione let her hand drop from Regulus’s arm, wrapping her arms around herself.

“There’s a lot you still have to learn about me, Regulus. I’m far from perfect.” Hermione couldn’t help but feel shame about some of the things she had done in her past, but what she had told Regulus was true, war was different.

“I’d like to get the chance, Mia”, Regulus replied honestly.

“Tomorrow, meet me on the seventh floor after lunch. Across from the portrait of Barnabus the Barmy.” She ignored the look of scepticism in Regulus’s eyes and moved past him, ready to walk back to the castle. “See you tomorrow, Black.”

“Mia! Wait!”, Regulus called from behind her. She stopped and half-turned around to look at him, raising a brow expectantly. “Thank you, I really appreciate what you’re doing for me. I don’t quite understand why you’re willing to do so much for someone you barely know, but I choose to believe it’s because you’re just that good of a person. Even if you have done bad things in the past, I don’t think anything you tell me could make me think any less of you”, Regulus stated, unfaltering in his words. Hermione could feel tears forming in the back of her eyes. Nodding her head in acknowledgement of what he had said, she turned and walked away from him, hoping that he hadn’t noticed her emotional response.

******************

“Do you think this top goes with this skirt?”, Mary asked, turning away from the mirror to look towards her dormmates. Lily and Alice replied emphatically, nodding their heads and telling her how amazing she looked in typical girl fashion. Hermione had her head stuck in her own trunk and didn’t hear Mary’s question. “Mia? What do you think?”

“What?”, she asked, head snapping up. “Oh, your outfit? It’s gorgeous, Mary. You should wear your black shoes with it, though”, she replied, somewhat distractedly.

“Are you alright, Mia? You seem a little off”, Lily probed.

“It’s silly really, it’s just that I don’t really have any party clothes. Or many clothes other than my uniform really.” It was true. Hermione had brought back all of the essentials into the past and clothes just weren’t really an essential for her. She had only brought back a few pairs of jeans and t-shirts to the past and she would stick out like a sore thumb if she wore her 90’s fashion in 1976. She had the money to buy new clothes but when she had gone to Diagon Alley, it had been all about getting supplies for Hogwarts. It hadn’t occurred to her that she would be invited to any parties.

“Oh Mia, don’t worry about that. We have plenty of clothes that’ll look amazing on you and next Hogsmeade weekend we can all go shopping together, how does that sound?”, Alice asked. She had a way with people, she always knew exactly how to make them feel better. Lily and Mary both nodded their heads in agreement.

“Thanks, guys. I really appreciate it. Moving here was such a whirlwind that I left most of my things back home.” It was technically the truth; the girls just had a different version of home in their heads than Hermione did.

Within half an hour, Hermione was dressed and ready for the party. Wearing one of Lily’s tops, one of Mary’s skirts, a pair of Alice’s shoes and the leather jacket that the Marauders had gifted her for her birthday, she looked like a 70’s native and she had never felt better. She enjoyed looking at her body now, knowing that soon enough it would be riddled in scars again. The scar on her chest from Dolohov, she could handle. It wasn’t constantly visible, whereas the _Mudblood_ scar was a constant reminder of the torture she had experienced under Bellatrix. Pushing that to the back of her mind, Hermione turned towards her friends.

“You look amazing, Mia”, Lily told her. The girls had straightened her hair using spells and they’d all done a bit of makeup as well. It wasn’t every weekend that Gryffindor won a Quidditch match after all.

“Thanks, Lils, so do you”, Hermione said, wrapping Lily in a hug. She really did appreciate having such great roommates and friends. She couldn’t imagine how much harder her new life in the past would be if she didn’t get along with her peers.

“Alright, alright, we’re all beautiful, blah, blah, blah. Can we go to the party now please?”, Mary asked smartly, throwing an arm around her friends’ shoulders.

“I second that”, said Alice, sitting on her bed and touching up her lipstick.

“You just want to get down to Frank as soon as possible”, Lily accused with a grin on her face.

“And is that such a bad thing?”, Alice grinned back. The girls laughed together and made their way down to the Common Room. The party had been unsurprisingly supplied with copious amounts of Butterbeer and Firewhisky. Sirius and James certainly did have their ways. Speaking of the two boys, Hermione’s eyes instantly located them sitting on their usual couches with the other Marauders and a few hangers on. The girls started to make their way towards the boys, but Hermione was pulled away from the rest of them on the way.

“You look gorgeous, Mia”, Fabian said, wrapping an arm around her waist. Hermione blushed and smiled at him.

“Thank you. You’re not so bad yourself, Prewett”, Hermione commented, admiring his t-shirt and jeans combo. His Keeper’s build allowed him to fill out his clothes very, very nicely.

“A compliment from Mia Dumbledore? Today must be a special occasion”, he teased.

“Well, it’s not everyday a girl has a Quidditch star interested in her”, she replied, a smile tugging at her lips.

“Who says I’m interested?”, Fabian smirked,

“Aren’t you?”, she cocked her head, refusing to break the growing tension between them. Rather than answering her question, Fabian leaned forward and closed the space between them. The kiss was exactly what Hermione had imagined it would be: passionate, soft but demanding, and most importantly incredibly hot. Hermione could feel the butterflies in her stomach going crazy, especially as she heard Benji exclaim “Finally!”, drawing the attention of others. For some reason though, Hermione didn’t care who saw. She was kissing Fabian because she wanted to – not because she had to do it to change the future or to aid Dumbledore’s plans. This was purely for her and she was relishing in it.

The night continued to be just as fun. She and Fabian remained close to each other for most of the evening, joining in on drinking games and dancing with their friends. By the end of the evening, everyone was fairly intoxicated. Gideon, it seemed, had had one too many and Fabian, looking apologetically at Hermione the whole time, took his brother up to their dorm to put him to bed. He didn’t leave before giving Hermione a goodnight kiss though. That was how Hermione found herself back with the Marauders and the other girls. Frank was also sitting with the group, cosied up to Alice.

“That was such a good night”, Hermione said, the shots of Firewhisky warming her tummy and making her brain more than a little fuzzy.

“Not surprised you had a good night, Mia. You did spend half of it attached to Prewett’s face”, Remus said teasingly, giving her a wink.

“Ha ha, very funny”, Hermione responded drolly, not taking any offence.

“So, does that mean you two are an item now?”, James questioned, catching the attention of the rest of the group.

“We’re having fun together, I really like him. I’m not ready to make any kind of commitments, though. It’s still very early days and I don’t know how ready I am for a relationship – my last one didn’t exactly end well”, she told her friends, thinking of Ron always hurt but now there was an added sense of guilt that she had kissed his uncle. Ron was her past, though, and he would be her future, but as a version that would be over twenty years younger than her.

Everyone nodded or smiled at her comfortingly, knowing not to probe any more than they already had. People started to say their goodnights in dribs and drabs and made their way up to the dorms. Eventually, it was only Hermione, Sirius and a passed-out Peter left in the Common Room. Sirius had been silent until that point, but Hermione knew that he was pretty drunk, so it didn’t surprise her that much.

“You okay, Sirius?”, she asked.

“Yeah, I’m -kay, Mi. Gonna sleep here”, Sirius said, closing his eyes and lying down fully on the couch.

“Okay, I’m going to head to bed, then”, she told him, walking over and throwing one of the nearby blankets over him so he wouldn’t get cold.

“Mi?”

“What’s up, Sirius?” She wasn’t sure where this new nickname had come from, but she assumed it was because Mia was too complicated for his drunken state. Godric forbid her name was still Hermione.

“Should’ve afkd me”, he mumbled into the couch.

“What? I can’t understand you.”

“Should’ve asked me”, he clarified, but Hermione still couldn’t understand what he was trying to get at. Should’ve asked him what?

“Okay, Sirius. Goodnight. I’ll see you tomorrow”, she said, making her way towards the dormitories.

“Night, Mi.”

It was only when Hermione was lying in bed, about to fall asleep, that she realised what Sirius had been trying to say. “Should’ve asked me”, she whispered to herself. Sirius had wanted her to ask him to Slughorn’s party, not Fabian.


	15. Safe

_October 24 th, 1976._

The following morning, Hermione woke up to a dull throbbing in her head. If her head was hurting, she couldn’t even begin to imagine what kind of state the likes of Gideon and Peter were in this morning. None of her roommates were awake yet, even though she knew that time for breakfast had come and gone. Thank Godric she had made plans with Regulus for after lunch – the last thing she felt like doing was running around dodging spells right now. She knew a shower would make her feel better, she had dealt with quite a few hangovers following the Final Battle, so she pulled herself out of bed and made her way to the bathroom.

She couldn’t help it that Sirius crossed her mind as she was massaging the shampoo into her scalp, it was only natural. She didn’t know if he would remember what he said to her the previous evening, but she wasn’t sure it mattered if he did or not. It wasn’t that Hermione didn’t like Sirius, quite the opposite in fact. Sirius was a good friend and, obviously, ridiculously handsome, but Fabian was who she wanted. Wasn’t he? She hated that Sirius was injecting doubt into her mind, but that was human nature she supposed. It wasn’t as if she and Fabian were in love, or even in a relationship for that matter. However, in that moment, she wasn’t interested in Sirius. He wasn’t the kind of guy she needed in her life at the moment, there were enough variables in her new life and she didn’t need her boyfriend to be one of them and Godric knew that Sirius was far from reliable at the best of times. Fabian was good. Reliable. Stable. That’s not to say that he was boring or anything, merely different. She felt safe when she was with him. When she was with Sirius, she felt like she could fall over the edge at any moment which was both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.

The reality was that Hermione didn’t really need any kind of male distraction at the moment, but if she was going to have one, then Fabian was the best option. He grounded her. She knew that when everything got too much, he would be there, even if she had to keep a solid 70% of her life a secret from him. One day she would be able to tell him, tell everyone, but that day was not today nor any day in the near future. There was work to be done before then.

Hopping out of the shower, Hermione quickly towel-dried her hair and threw on a pair of jeans. The jeans were one of the few items of clothing that she had brought back from 1998, her favourite pair. They had served her well having worn them while being on the run with Harry and Ron. She had even worn them during the Final Battle. Although that should have brought only bad memories, these jeans were like an old friend. Hermione knew she could put up a hell of a fight in them and they were the most suitable for her training with Regulus. She knew she couldn’t wear them anywhere near the Great Hall, however. The fashion of the 90’s would be considered ridiculously inappropriate in 1976 as the jeans were rather tight. Luckily, she wasn’t feeling much like eating anyway and opted to skip lunch and head straight to the Room of Requirement. She needed to make sure that the room could produce the perfect training environment.

Hermione should never have doubted the Room of Requirement. After pacing back and forth three times, thinking of the room she needed, she walked through the door that had appeared. It was perfect. There were practice dummies dotted around the room, as well as targets and a hand-to-hand combat area. Hermione walked over to a table in the corner that had a chair on either side of it. On the table was a book entitled “ _Occlumency for Beginners_ ”. Hermione felt like an idiot, she had completely forgotten that Occlumency was an important, if not the most important, part of Regulus’s training. If he couldn’t guard his mind from Voldemort, he would be left defenceless, no matter how many defensive and offensive spells he knew.

Realising lunch would be finishing up around then, Hermione exited the Room of Requirement to wait outside for Regulus. To her surprise, he was already there, waiting beside the portrait. He jumped in surprise at her appearance from a previously non-existent doorway.

“Where the bloody hell did you come from?”, he asked, one hand clutching at his rapidly-beating heart. Hermione couldn’t help but laugh. Although the Marauders had found out about the Room of Requirement long ago, the majority of the school’s population were completely unaware of the magical room located on the Seventh Floor.

“This is the Room of Requirement, Regulus. It’s where we’re going to be training from now on. You have to think about the kind of room you need and then it appears”, she told him plainly.

“How does nobody know about this? And how do you know about it? You haven’t even been here two months”, Regulus looked at her incredulously. Hermione paused, realising that he had a point, it did seem suspicious that she would have already found a secret room that nobody else knew about. She realised that she had paused for too long as she made eye contact with Regulus.

“Sirius”, she said quickly. “Sirius showed me the room on my birthday, we had a party.”

“Ah, your birthday.” Hermione knew he was thinking of their kiss and subsequent fight, she was thinking about it too. Before things could get any more awkward, Hermione began to pace in front of the now blank wall until a door appeared. Luckily, it produced the same room as before and the pair scurried into it before anyone saw them lingering in an empty corridor together. “I like your jeans”, Regulus said offhandedly.

Hermione blushed, she had known the jeans would stand out in the fashion of the 70’s, but she didn’t think that Regulus would be bold enough to point them out. “Thanks, they’re an American Muggle trend”, she told him. She wasn’t exactly lying, she was just omitting the fact that the trend wouldn’t begin for another twenty years.

“Remind me to thank the Muggles”, he said cheekily. Rolling her eyes at him, she quickly shot a Jelly-Legs Jinx his way to teach him a lesson. Unsurprisingly, the spell hit its target and Regulus lost all control of his legs.

“We’re here to train, Black. Not to flirt.” Hermione didn’t know how Sirius and Regulus didn’t see how similar they were to each other. Mercifully, Hermione cancelled the jinx before he could suffer anymore. Regulus seemed suitably sobered, but he still couldn’t wipe the grin fully off his face. Without saying anything, he reached into the pocket of his robes and pulled out a sandwich. Hermione raised her eyebrows, “Hungry, Regulus?”

“No, it’s for you. I saw you weren’t at breakfast or lunch. Figured you needed to eat something, training won’t be easy, after all.” He handed her the sandwich, pleased by the surprised look on her face. “I know you’re not a fan of the egg sandwiches they always make so I went down to the kitchen after I finished eating and got you a plain old ham sandwich. Is that okay?”, he asked.

It took Hermione more than a few seconds to form a response. “More than okay. Thank you, Regulus.” She had to look away from his stare, there was something about it that unnerved her. “Okay, let’s get started. Have you received any kind of training before? Obviously excluding the regular DADA classes.”

“All Blacks receive basic training from the age of seven in the areas of defence and occlumency”, he told her.

“From the age of seven? But it’s illegal to perform magic outside of Hogwarts until you’re seventeen.” Hermione was a bit putout when Regulus laughed at her, but she knew he didn’t mean it in a bad way.

“My family only follow the rules when it suits them. Nobody is going to go against the “Noble and Ancient House of Black” for something as trivial as underage magic”, Regulus explained, rolling his eyes.

“Okay, well, I suppose it’s a good thing. Means we’re not starting from nothing. Where do you want to start? Defence or Occlumency?”

“Up to you, Professor Dumbledore”, he replied, smiling. Hermione laughed and made her way over to where a few dummies were set up. She animated them and Regulus assumed a defensive stance as the dummies raised the wands in their hands.

“Defence it is”, Hermione grinned.

 

****************************

 

_October 29 th, 1976._

Hermione’s training with Regulus had been going well. So far, they’d been working on building up his defence, having met again during the week after curfew. If the pair of them were caught together after hours, it would be the talk of the school and she genuinely had no idea how she’d go about explaining it to Fabian. Luckily, Regulus was a prefect himself and that might help them get out of any sticky situation. They were fortunate that that hadn’t been an issue as of yet, however. If they were to continue training after hours, Hermione was going to ask Sirius if she could borrow his map. She was sure he would agree if he knew why she needed it.

Hermione knew that Sirius would want to get in on Regulus’s training once he found out that Mia was training him. She also knew that she would allow him to join them. It made sense, after all. If Sirius was also going to join the Order before graduation, he also needed to learn. However, Regulus was the priority here and she would keep it to just the two of them for as long as she possibly could.

“What’s your verdict, my dear?”, Professor Dumbledore asked, leaning across the table to pour her another cup of tea. They had organised their weekly meeting for Friday night this week as Professor Slughorn’s party was the following night.

“He’s good. His main problem is that he thinks he’s better than he is”, she told him.

“Ah, a common trait in the Black family in my experience.” Hermione snorted, Albus Dumbledore was nothing more than a big gossip.

“I won’t lie, my experience has been fairly similar, Professor. He’s a strong fighter, but he really has no idea what he’s walking into. At least his initiation has been postponed until Christmas. I don’t know if he’d survive if it was still set for next week.”

“Let us try to be optimistic, even if it is difficult. Be harsher with him in his next few sessions. I know you’ve been holding back, Ms. Granger”, Dumbledore said knowingly.

Hermione blushed, “I didn’t want to knock his confidence from the beginning.”

“Protecting his ego is doing him no favours, my dear. Although progress has been made, young Regulus needs to realise that the Death Eaters within Hogwarts’ walls are nothing compared to what he’ll see on the outside. Have you begun his occlumency lessons yet?”

“Not yet, we’re planning to start on Sunday. I figured both of us would be tired after the Halloween party and it’s no harm for him to experience legilimency when he’s not at his strongest”, Hermione explained. She didn’t tell the Headmaster that she was also afraid of what she would see in Regulus’s head. She knew that he and Sirius had not had the best of childhoods but knowing and seeing were two different things.

Dumbledore nodded, “Very good, Hermione. We will continue your Fiendfyre training next week. I know I have been unable to offer you as much time as you’re owed in the past few weeks, but I promise we will have you ready by Christmas.”

“Thank you, Sir. You know I appreciate all of your help”, she smiled. “Speaking of Christmas, I’ll be meeting the Order then, won’t I? So will Sirius and Regulus. I feel as though I should be introduced before the boys, it’ll be easier to explain why they’re joining if everyone has already gotten used to the idea of me being there.”

“Excellent point. I will organise a meeting for the first night of the Christmas holidays and then another one somewhere between Christmas and the New Year. How does that sound?”, Dumbledore offered.

“Perfect, Sir. I also think that the second meeting should be after Regulus’s induction into the Death Eaters. Even if we get his Occlumency to an acceptable level, it’s a risk to send him in with memories of the Order.” Dumbledore nodded, joining his hands pensively.

“Another good point, Ms. Granger. I’ll take your lead when it comes to Mr. Black, both Mr. Blacks. You know them far better than I do, after all.” Hermione managed to prevent the oncoming blush forming on her face. Her “uncle” knew exactly what to say to embarrass her. “Off you go and get some rest, tomorrow will be a very long day. I’ll be in touch about our next meeting. Until then, continue with the training.”

“Of course, Professor. Good night”, Hermione said, pulling herself out of her chair and making her way towards the door.

“Enjoy the party tomorrow, my dear. Happy Halloween”, Dumbledore added kindly.

“Happy Halloween, Sir”, Hermione replied before making her way back to her dorm. It was late, almost one in the morning. Unsurprisingly, the corridors were empty. The only people who had permission to be out at this time were the prefects doing their rounds. It was times like this that Hermione wished she had the Marauders’ Map in her possession. She hated sneaking about, peaking around corners to make sure nobody was there to catch her. She was always on edge and she hated nothing more than the feeling of being on edge. It reminded her of the war. Even though she knew there was no danger in the corridors of Hogwarts, it didn’t help the sinking feeling in her gut.

“Miss Dumbledore, what a surprise.” Hermione whipped around, trying to identify where the voice had come from behind her. Her wand had already slipped into her wand from the holster up her sleeve. She recognised the voice, but she knew it didn’t belong to one of her friends.

“Who’s there?”, Hermione called into the darkness. She was standing under one of the torches, but she could barely see five feet ahead of her. Suddenly, a figure stepped into the light, mere steps away from her. The scar on her chest burned as she made eye contact with Antonin Dolohov, Slytherin prefect of seventh year but no less intimidating than he had been the last time she encountered him.

“I don’t think you’re the one who should be asking questions here, Mia”, he said creepily.

“I didn’t give you permission to use my name”, she spat rudely.

“Oh, don’t be like that, Mia. After all, any friend of my friends is a friend of mine, don’t you agree?” He disgusted her, there was nothing redeeming about his character and she couldn’t stand to be this close to him. He took another step closer. She raised her wand so it was in his line of sight.

“We don’t share any friends, Dolohov. I would never associate myself with the likes of you.”

Without warning, Dolohov pushed her against the wall, holding her wrists above her head and twisting, making her wand fall from her hand. “Listen hear, you stuck up, little bitch. You think you’re so much better than me, do you? We all know you’re fucking Regulus, don’t even pretend that you’re not. I saw you two sneaking around on the seventh floor the other night. Regulus is young, I can allow him his transgressions. We all fuck around with a blood traitor or some other scum from time to time, it’s our right as purebloods. And I can’t blame him for going after you.” Dolohov’s eyes roved over her body and he grinned. Hermione was disgusted.

“Don’t fucking touch me, Dolohov”, she warned.

“What are you going to do about it, Princess? Tell your uncle? Or how about your boyfriend? You have a few of them though, don’t you? You’d probably like it anyway, whore.”

Hermione lunged her left knee forward and made contact with Dolohov’s groin. The boy doubled over in pain, dropping her wrists and Hermione quickly scrambled to pick up her wand.

“You little bitch”, Dolohov shouted, lunging for her. Her reflexes were still sharp from years of fighting, however, and she shot a full body-bind curse at him before he could reach her. His body dropped to the floor like a ton of bricks.

She leaned over his frozen form, livid eyes staring up at her. “You don’t want to mess with me, Dolohov. Stay the fuck away from me”, she spat and walked away without looking back. She didn’t allow herself to stop or think until she had gotten past the portrait of the Fat Lady, that was when the tears started to flow. She hadn’t felt like that, so helpless, so vulnerable, since Malfoy Manor. Even in the Final Battle, she hadn’t been cornered and man-handled like that. Her breath was coming in short, quick gasps and she felt like the world was collapsing around her.

Without thinking, she made her way towards the staircase to the boys’ dormitories. She climbed up and up, passing the dormitories of the lower years. She passed the fifth years’ dorm without stopping, but she paused outside the sixth year one. The Marauders were behind that door, safety was behind that door. Nevertheless, she continued climbing until she reached the dorm belonging to the boys in their final year. Creaking the door open as quietly as she possibly could, Hermione entered the room and walked over to the bed she knew belonged to Fabian due to the bright red F on his trunk. She pulled back the curtains and tapped Fabian’s shoulder.

“Fabian”, she whispered, hoping to wake him without waking up the rest of the dorm. Being found in the headboy’s bed in the morning wouldn’t exactly be the best look for her, but she didn’t care. She shook his shoulder a bit and his eyes snapped open.

“Mia? What’re you doing here? Are you okay?”, he asked, noticing the redness in her eyes and the tears staining her cheeks.

“Can I stay here?”, she asked, hearing how weak her voice sounded.

Fabian nodded immediately, pulling the covers back and moving over she had room to climb into the bed. She tucked herself into his side, immediately feeling safer, her breathing finally calming down. “Want to talk about it?”, he whispered.

“No.”

“Okay”, he said and kissed her forehead, squeezing her closer to his body. She was grateful that he didn’t push the matter. “Goodnight, Mia.”

She closed her eyes and snuggled further into his chest, relishing in the warmth. “Goodnight, Fabian.”

She was asleep within minutes.


End file.
